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BX  9941  .P57  1857 
Pitrat,  John  Claudius. 
Pagan  origin  of  Partialis! 
doctrines 


PAGAN    ORIGIN 


OP 


PARTIALIST  DOCTRINES, 


BY 


REV.  JOHN  CLAUDIUS  PITRAT, 


A  MEMBER  OF    THE    UNIVERSITY     OF    FRANCE;     AUTHOR     OF   "jKSUITa 

UNVEILED;"     OF   "PAUL   AND   JULIA,"   ETC.,   AND 

FORMERLY   A   ROMISH   PRIEST. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


LONGLEY    BROTHERS,    PRINTERS 

168   VINE   ST,,   ABOVE   FOURTH, 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,   in  the  year  1857,   by 

JOHN    CLAUDIUS    PITRAT, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
Ohio. 


To    Brother    John   A.   Gurley. 

Dear  Friend  Gurley, — To  yon,  who  liave  fed 
me  when  I  was  starving,  sheltered  nie  when  I  was 
a  homeless  exile,  and  befriended  me  when  I  was 
forlorn,  and  my  life  was  sought  by  my  persecutors, 
this  volume  I  inscribe,  as  a  feeble  token  of  my 
lasting  gratitude  and  friendship. 

J.   C.   Pitrat. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2009  witin  funding  from 

Princeton  Tineological  Seminary  Library 


littp://www.archive.org/details/paganoriginofpOOpitr 


PREFACE. 

Two  arguments  can  be  brought  forth  to  prove  that 
the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures: 
the  one  is  drawn  from  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and 
the  other  is  drawn  from  history. 

The  first  argument,  drawn  from  the  Scriptures,  is 
this: 

The  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, if  it  can  be  proved  by  the  Scriptures  themselves 
that  the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  contained  therein. 
But  it  can  be  proved  by  the  Scriptures  themselves  that 
the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  contained  therein. 
Then  the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in  the 
Scriptures, 

The  second  argument,  drawn  from  history,  is  this : 

The  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, if  it  can  be  proved  by  history,  that  the  origin  of 
the  Partialist  doctrines  is  Pagan.  But  it  can  be  proved 
by  history  that  the  origin  of  the  Partialist  doctrines  is 
Pagan.  Then  the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in 
the  Scriptures. 

These  two  arguments,  as  he  who  reflects  can  easily 
perceive,  not  only  corroborate  each  other,  but  their 
respective  proving  force  is  such,  that,  if  considered  sepa- 
rately, each  one  is  sufficient  to  peremptorily  prove  that 
the  Partialist  doctrines  are  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures. 
The  former,  till  now,  we  Universalists  hare  exclusively 

(V) 


VI  PREFACE. 

used,  and  it  "has  been  efficacious  in  causing  the  scales 
of  early  and  strong  prejudices  to  fall  from  the  eyes  of 
thousands.  However,  it  is  unfortunately  a  fact,  con- 
firmed by  daily  experience,  that  the  conclusions  arrived 
at  through  scriptural  controversies  are  striking  only  to 
minds  of  a  particular  bent  and  culture.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  conclusions  arrived  at  through  historical  facts 
present  themselves  to  the  mind  of  all^  clear,  vivid  and 
irresistible.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  author,  in 
this  book,  presents  to  the  consideration  of  the  Univer- 
salist  denomination,  and  of  the  public  in  general,  the 
second  argument,  drawn  from  history.  The  vast  num- 
ber of  historical  facts,  of  quotations,  extracts,  etc.,  con- 
tained in  this  volume,  have  been  translated  from  many 
languages,  with  as  much  accuracy  as  possible. 

May  God  bless  this  work,  intended  to  confirm  the 
Universalists  in  their  beloved  faith ;  and  also  to  break 
the  chain  of  prejudice  which  keeps  millions  of  men  in 
ignorance,  in  superstition,  in  perpetual  fear,  and  thereby 
in  spiritual  bondage  :  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

THE    AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 

Dedication. iii 

PfiEFACE.  •• V 

CHAPTER    I. 
Teue  Spirit  of  Pagan  Religions. 9 

CHAPTER    II. 
Pagan  Origin  of  Mysteries. 28 

CHAPTER    III. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Personal  DeVil.  58 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Original  Sin. 68 

CHAPTER    V. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Trinity. 80 

CHAPTER    VI. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Supreme  Divinity  of 

Jesus  Christ. 87 

CHAPTER    VII. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Endless  Hell. Ill 

Article  I. — Metempsychosis  or  Triinsmigration  of  the  Souls.     Ill 

Article  II.— Tartarus. 129 

Article  HI. — Did  the  Christians  of  the  First  Centuries  believe 

in  Endless  Hell. 135 

Article  IV. — How  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  the  doctrine 
of  Endless  Hell  from  the  Pagans :  and  how,  afterwards,  the 
self-called  Orthodox  Protestant  Churches  borrowed  it  from 

the  Church  of  Rome. 170 

(Vii) 


nil  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  oy  a  First  Judgment,  by  Jisos 
Christ,  immediately  after  the  Separation  of  the  Soul 
FROM  THE  Body. 182 

CHAPTER    IX, 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  oy  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Body. •• 190 

CHAPTER    X. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  General  Judgment  at 
the  end  of  the  world. 205 

CHAPTER    XI. 
Pagan  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atonement.  •  •  •  229 

Vaiebictokt. 24S 


PAGAN    ORIGIN 

OF 


PARTIALIST    DOCTRINES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

TRUE    SPIRIT   OF   PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 

It  seems  to  be  au  undeniable  fact,  that,  before 
the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  nations  had  immemo- 
rially  and  univei'sally  believed,  that  the  universe, 
or  nature,  was  an  uncreated  but  animated  being, 
whose  vast  body  comprised  the  earth,  the  sun,  the 
planets  and  the  stars,  to  which  one  great  soul 
impressed  motion  and  life.  Also  they  believed 
that  all  those  principal  parts,  or,  in  other  words, 
principal  members  of  the  body  of  the  universe, 
were  animated  by  emanations  or  irradiations  of 
the  great  soul  of  the  universe,  or  nature.  This 
Pantheistic  doctrine  we  find  recorded  by  the  Chal- 
dean Zoroaster,  in  his  Zend-Avesta;  by  the  Phce- 
nician  Sanchoniaton  in  his  Mythological  History; 
by  the  author  of  the  Indian  Vedam ;  and  by  the 
Chinese  Confucius,  in  his  Theology.  Weighty  is 
the  testimony  of  those  authors,  who  lived,  Confu- 
cius perhaps  excepted,  at  about  the  time  of  Moses. 
Also,  the  above  doctrine  they  themselves  believed 

(9) 


10  TRUE     SPIRIT     OJ" 

and  taught.  More,  we  find  the  same  testimony, 
the  same  doctrine,  and  the  same  teaching,  in  nearly 
all  the  works  of  the  celebrated  poets,  orators  and 
philosophers  of  posterior  ages. 

Pliny,  the  historian  and  naturalist,  writes:  "  The 
world,  or  what  we  call  the  heaven,  which,  in  its 
vast  embrace,  encircles  all  beings,  is  a  God  eternal, 
immense,  uncreated  and  immortal.  To  seek  any 
thing  beyond  it  is  beyond  man's  reach,  and  is  vain 
labor.  Behold,  the  universe  is  the  Being  truly 
sacred,  the  Being  eternal,  immense,  comprising  all 
in  himself:  he  is  all  in  all,  or  rather  he  is  himself 
all.     He  is  the  work  of  nature,  and  nature  itself." 

We  read  in  the  sixth  book  of  Eneida,  by  Virgil: 
"  Know,  O  my  son !  that  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  the  deep,  the  bright  globe  of  the  moon,  and 
all  stars  are  moved  by  a  principle  of  inly  life, 
which  perpetuates  its  existence ;  that  it  is  a  great 
intelligent  soul,  extending  to  all  the  parts  of  the 
vast  body  of  the  universe ;  and  which,  connected 
with  all,  impresses  to  all  an  eternal  movement. 
This  soul  is  the  source  of  the  life  of  man,  of  that 
of  flocks,  birds,  and  of  all  the  monsters  of  the  deep. 
The  bright  force  that  animates  them  emanates 
from  that  eternal  fire  that  shines  in  the  sky,  and 
which,  a  captive  in  the  gross  matter  of  bodies, 
develops  itself  only  as  permitted  by  the  divers 
mortal  organizations  that  blunt  its  force  and  ac- 
tivity. At  the  death  of  each  animal  those  germs 
of  particular  life  return  to  their  source,  and  to  the 
principle  of  life  that  circulates  in  the  starry  sphere." 


PAGAN     RELIGIONS.  11 

This  belief  led  men  to  the  worship  of  the  uni- 
verse, or  nature,  and  became  the  basis  of  their 
mythology.  They  adored  the  vast  body  of  nature, 
and  its  great  soul,  under  the  name  of  Supreme  Be- 
ing, of  Jupiter,  of  Vichnou,  of  Pan,  etc.  They 
adored  the  earth,  the  sun,  the  planets  and  the  stars 
under  other  names.  They  erected  temples,  altars, 
statues  and  chapels  to  those  deities,  and  worship- 
ped them — not  the  wood,  stone,  or  marble,  as  they 
are  unjustly  accused  of,  but  the  emanations  of  the 
great  soul  of  the  universe,  which  animated  all 
those  principal  members  of  the  vast  body  of  nature, 
whose  might  and  influence  impressed  them  with 
wonder,  terror  or  gratitude,  and  thus  attracted 
their  adoration. 

The  Chinese  adored  the  heavens  under  the  name 
of  great  Tien.  The  Supreme  Being  in  the  Chou- 
King  is  designated  by  the  name  of  Tien,  which 
means  from  heaven,  and  of  Chang-Tien,  supreme 
heaven.  They  had  reared  temples  to  the  sun,  to 
the  moon,  and  to  the  stars;  and  also  one  to  the 
great  being  formed  of  the  sky,  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  elements, — being  which  is  the  universe  named 
by  them  Tay-ki.  They  worshipped  the  heavens 
at  the  time  of  the  two  solstices.  The  Japanese 
adored  the  stars  and  planets  which  they  supposed 
to  be  animated  by  geniuses  or  gods.  They  had  a 
temple  dedicated  to  the  splendor  of  the  sun.  They 
celebrated  the  feast  of  the  moon  on  the  7th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  spent  the  whole  night  in  rejoicing  by 
her  light.  The  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  practice 
the  same  worship  even  in  our  days. 


12  TRUE     SPIRIT     OF 

The  Egyptians  adored  the  sun  under  the  name 
of  Osiris,  and  the  moon  under  the  name  of  Iris. 
To  them  both  they  ascribed  the  government  of  the 
world.  They  built,  to  honor  Osiris,  the  City  of  the 
Sun,  or  Ileliopolis,  and  also  a  splendid  temple  in 
which  they  placed  his  statue.  They  worshipped 
all  the  stars  and  planets  which  compose  the  Zodiac. 
The  animals  consecrated  in  the  Egyptian  temples, 
and  religiously  revered,  represented  the  various 
functions  of  the  supreme  cause;  and  they  referred 
to  the  sky,  to  the  sun,  to  the  moon,  and  to  the 
constellations. 

The  Phoenicians  worshipped  the  moon  and  the 
stars.  They  adored  the  sun  under  the  name  of 
Hercules.  The  Ethiopians  adored  the  sun  and  the 
moon;  and  Diodorus  informs  us,  that  those  of 
their  tribes  who  inhabited  the  country  above 
Meroe  adored  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  universe. 
They  called  themselves  the  sons  of  the  sun :  Per- 
sina  was  the  priestess  of  the  moon,  and  the  king, 
her  husband,  was  the  priest  of  the  sun.  All  the 
Africans  who  were  settled  along  the  coast  of 
Angola,  and  of  Congo,  worshipped  the  sun  and 
the  moon ;  so  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Teu- 
eritfe  did.  The  oldest  worship  of  the  Arabs  was 
Sabism,  the  religion  universally  spread  in  the 
Orient :  the  heaven  and  the  stars  were  objects  of 
veneration.  The  moon  was  more  especially  adored. 
The  Saracens  called  her  Cabar,  which  means  great: 
even  now-a-days  her  crescent  adorns  the  religious 
monuments  of  the  Turks.      Among  the  Arabs 


PAGAN     RELIGIOXS.  13 

each  tribe  was  under  the  invocation  or  patronage 
of  a  star. 

The  Sabism  was  also  the  religion  of  the  ancient 
Chaldeans.  Even  now  there  is  at  Ilelle,  on  the 
ruins  of  Babylon,  a  mosque  named  Meshed  Es- 
chams,  or  Mosque  of  the  Sun.  In  this  city  was 
the  temple  of  Belus,  or  of  the  sun,  the  great  deity 
of  the  Babylonians.  To  this  same  god  the  Per- 
sians reared  temples  and  consecrated  images,  under 
the  name  of  Mithra.  They  also  honored  the 
heaven  under  the  name  of  Jupiter,  the  moon  and 
venus,  the  fire,  the  earth,  the  air  or  wind,  and 
water.  The  lire  ether  that  circulates  in  the  whole 
universe,  and  of  which  the  sun  is  the  main  force, 
was  represented  in  the  Pyrees  by  the  sacred  tire 
kept  incessantly  burning  by  the  wizards,  or  priests. 
At  Tymbree,  in  Troades,  the  sun  was  adored  under 
the  name  of  Apollo.  The  island  of  Rhodes  was 
consecrated  to  the  sun,  to  whom  the  colossal  statue, 
known  under  the  name  of  the  Colossus  of  llhodes, 
was  erected.  The  jMassagetes,  the  Abasges,  the 
Derbises,  the  Tartars,  the  Moscanians,  the  Tchou- 
vaches,  the  Toungouses,  the  Huns,  all  the  Scytic 
nations,  the  Iberians,  the  All)aniaus,  the  Colchidi- 
ans,  the  Phrygians,  and  the  Laodiceans,  worship- 
ped the  earth,  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars, 
under  various  emblems. 

Plato  informs  us  that  the  ancient  Greeks  had  no 
other  gods  than  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  the 
stars,  water,  and  fire.  Orpheus  considered  the 
sun  as  the  greatest  of  the  gods,  and  adored  him 


14  TRUE    SPIRIT   OF 

upon  mounts  at  his  rise.  Epicliarmis,  disciple  of 
Pythagoras,  called  gods  the  sim,  the  moon,  the 
stars,  the  earth,  water  and  tire.  Agamemnon,  in 
Homer,  sacrificed  to  the  sun  and  to  the  earth. 
The  choir,  in  the  CEdipus  of  Sophocles,  invokes 
the  sun  as  being  the  first  among  the  gods,  and 
their  chief.  The  earth  was  worshipped  in  the 
island  of  Cos.  Also  the  earth  had  a  temple  at 
Athens  and  at  Sparta;  and  an  altar  and  oracle  at 
Oljmpia. 

When  we  read  Pausanias,  who  has  described 
Greece  and  her  religious  monuments,  we  find 
everywhere  traces  of  the  worship  of  nature.  We 
see  temples,  altars,  and  statues,  consecrated  to  the 
sun,  to  the  moon,  to  the  earth,  to  the  Pleiades,  to 
the  celestial  auriga,  to  the  goat,  to  the  bear,  or 
Calisto,  to  the  night,  to  rivers,  etc.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Megalopolis  sacrificed  to  the  wind  J3oreas, 
and  had  planted  a  grove  in  his  honor.  The  Mace- 
donians adored  Estia,  or  fire,  and  praj'ed  to  Bedy, 
or  water.  Alexander,  king  of  Macedonia,  sacri- 
ficed to  the  sun,  to  the  moon,  and  to  the  earth. 
The  oracle  of  Dodone,  in  all  its  answers,  ordered 
sacrifices  to  the  Achelous  river.  Homer  gave  the 
epithet  of  sacred  to  the  waters  of  the  Alpheus. 
Nestor  and  the  Pylians  sacrificed  a  bull  to  the 
same  river.  Achilles  let  his  hair  grow  in  honor 
of  Sphercius;  he  also  invoked  the  wind  Boreas 
and  the  Zephyrus. 

Kivers  were  reputed  as  being  sacred  and  di- 
vine, because   of    their  utility   to  vegetation,   to 


PAGAN    RELIGIONS.  15 

animals,  and  to  commerce;  and  because  nations 
considered  water  as  one  of  the  first  principles  of 
nature,  and  one  of  the  most  efficacious  agents  of 
the  universal  life  of  the  Great-Being  in  which 
they  believed.  In  Thessalia  a  sacred  crow  was  fed 
in  honor  of  the  sun.  This  bird  is  seen  yet  on  the 
monuments  of  Mithra,  in  Persia.  The  temples 
of  old  Byzantium  were  consecrated  to  the  sun,  to 
the  moon,  and  to  Yenus.  Their  idols  represented 
them ;  also  the  star  Arcture,  and  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  Zodiac.  Rome  and  Italy  had  also  a  vast 
number  of  monuments  of  worship  addressed  to 
nature,  and  to  its  principal  agents.  Tatius,  com- 
ing to  Rome  to  share  the  sceptre  of  lionmlus, 
erected  altars  and  temples  to  the  sun,  to  the  moon, 
to  Saturn,  to  light,  and  to  fire.  The  undying  tire, 
or  Vesta,  was  the  most  ancient  object  of  worship 
of  tlie  Romans;  virgins  had  the  care  to  perpetu- 
ate it  in  the  temple  of  this  Goddess,  as  the  wiz- 
ards did  in  their  Pyrees.  "It  was,"  Jornaudes 
said,  "an  image  of  the  eternal  lights  which  shine 
in  the  heavens." 

In  Rome  there  was  a  famous  temple  called  Tel- 
lus,  or  of  the  earth,  in  which  the  senate  often 
met.  The  earth  was  called  mother,  because  it 
was  considered  as  a  deity  as  well  as  the  manes. 
There  was  in  the  Latium  a  fountain  of  the  sun, 
and,  near  it,  two  altars  upon  which  CEneas,  when 
landing  in  Italy,  sacrificed.  Romulus  established 
the  games  of  the  circus  to  honor  both  the  sun, 
who  in  his  course  measures  the  year,  and  the  four 


IS  TRUE   SPIRIT   OF 

elements  wliich  lie  modifies  by  liis  mighty  influ- 
ence. Aurelian  built  at  Rome  tlie  temple  of  the 
sun,  and  decked  it  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 
Augustus,  before  Aurelian,  had  ordered  the  images 
of  the  sun  and  of  the  moon  to  be  brought  from 
Egypt,  in  order  to  adorn  his  triumph  over  An- 
thony and  Cleopatra.  The  moon  had  a  temple 
on  the  mount  Aventine. 

In  Sicily  oxen  were  consecrated  to  the  sun;  and 
the  island  itself  was  called  the  Island  of  the  Sun. 
The  oxen  which  the  companions  of  Ulysse  ate 
when  they  landed,  were  consecrated  to  this  god. 
The  citizens  of  Assora  adored  the  Chrysas  river, 
that  bathed  their  walls.  At  Enguyum  the  people 
revered  the  mother-goddesses,  the  same  deities 
honored  in  Crete;  namely,  the  major  and  minor 
Ursas.  In  Spain  the  people  of  Betic  had  built  a 
temple  to  the  morning  star.  The  Accitaus  had 
erected  to  the  god  Sun,  under  the  name  of  Mars, 
a  statue  whose  head  imitated  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
At  Cadix  the  sun  was  also  adored,  under  the 
name  of  Hercules.  All  the  nations  of  northern 
Europe,  called  Celtes,  worshipped  fire,  water,  the 
air,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  trees,  and 
the  springs.  The  conqueror  of  Gaul,  Ci^esar, 
writes  that  the  Germans  immemorially  adored 
the  ^dsible  cause,  and  its  principal  agents,  the  sun, 
the  moon,  fire  or  Vulcain,  and  the  earth,  under  the 
name  of  Herta.  ISTear  Narbonne,  a  city  of  Gaul, 
a  temple  was  dedicated  to  the  wind  Circius  which 
purified  the  atmosphere.    At  Toulouse  there  was 


PAGAN    RELIGIONS.  17 

a  temple  of  the  sun.  The  Franks  professed  the 
same  religion. 

Ill  America  the  Incas  of  iPeru  called  themselves 
the  sons  of  the  sun :  they  dedicated  temples  and 
altars  to  this  god,  and  had  instituted  feasts  in 
his  honor.  The  moon  was  associated  to  his  wor- 
ship, and  was  considered  as  the  mother  of  all  the 
sublunar  productions;  and  as  the  spouse  and 
sister  of  the  sun.  In  Peru,  the  star  Yenus  was 
adored,  and  also  the  meteors,  the  thunder,  and 
Iris,  or  rainbow.  Virgins  had  the  care  of  keep- 
ing alive  the  perpetual  tire.  In  Mexico  the  same 
religion  existed.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  of  Brazil,  of  Florida ;  the  Indians  of 
the  coast  of  Cumana,  the  Floridians,  Virginians, 
and  the  Canadians  believed  that  there  was  a  god 
in  the  heavens,  and  that  this  god  was  the  sun,  the 
spouse  of  the  moon.  They  worshipped  them  as 
the  two  supreme  causes  which  ruled  the  world. 

The  above  historical  facts  lead  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  adoration  of  the  vast  body  of 
nature,  together  with  the  great  soul  which  was 
supposed  to  animate  it ;  and  of  its  principal  parts 
or  members,  together  with  the  multifarious  ema- 
nations of  the  great  soul,  which  was  supposed  to 
animate  them,  was  the  former  and  universal  reli- 
gion of  mankind,  before  the  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Therefore  the  heathens  did  not  worship 
the  idols  themselves,  to  which  they  had  given 
such  and  such  forms  to  represent  the  objects  of 
their  adorations;    but  they  worshipped  what  in 


18  TRUE    SPIRIT   OP 

their  miud  they  represented,  the  universe  taken 
collectively,  as  in  the  idol  of  Pan ;  and  the  uni- 
verse taken  separately;  namely,  the  important 
parts  of  the  universe,  as  in  their  innumerable 
idols  of  the  planets,  stars,  rivers,  etc. 

As  we  wish  to  leave  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of 
the  reader  in  regard  to  the  certainty  of  these  two 
great  facts,  which  are  a  key  to  the  origin  of  the 
dogma  of  endless  misery,  and  of  others  which 
we  are  to  trace  out,  we  will  bring  forth  other 
proofs  from  the  religious  and  political  monuments 
of  ancient  peoples;  from  their  celebrations,  and 
from  the  opinions  of  their  philosophers. 

The  famous  labyrinth  of  Egypt  was  dedicated 
to  the  sun.  It  formed  twelve  palaces,  rej^resent- 
ino*  the  twelve  sio;ns  of  the  Zodiac.  There  were 
in  Heliopolis,  or  City  of  the  Sun,  twelve  columns 
adonied  with  symbols  relating  to  the  elements, 
and  to  the  twelve  signs.  These  gigantic  piles 
had  a  pyramidal  shape  to  better  represent  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  the  form  of  his  rising  blaze. 
The  statue  of  Apollo  Agyeus  was  pyramidal. 
In  Egypt,  artists  were  not  entrusted  with  deter- 
mining the  form  of  the  images  and  statues  of  the 
gods.  It  was  one  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Ilier- 
ophants,  or  priests,  who  were  more  familiar  with 
astronomy.  This  fact  explains  why  the  number 
seven,  which  represented  the  number  of  planets, 
and  the  number  twelve,  which  represented  the 
number  of  the  signs,  were  sacred  numbers,  and 
were  reproduced  under  all  kinds  of  forms.     So 


PAGAX   RELIGIONS.  19 

the  twelve  altars  of  Janus;  the  twelve  works  of 
Hercules  or  sun ;  the  twelve  shields  of  Mars ;  the 
twelve  brothers  Arvaux;  the  twelve  gods  Con- 
sentes ;  the  twelve  rays  of  light ;  the  twelve 
governors  in  the  Manichean  system;  the  twelve 
adeetyas  of  the  Indians;  the  twelve  azes  of  the 
Scandinaves;  the  twelve  wards  of  the  city 
planned  by  Plato ;  the  four  tribes  of  Athens  sub- 
divided into  three  fraterics  according  to  Cecrops' 
division ;  the  twelve  cushions  on  which  the 
creator  sits,  in  the  theogony  of  the  Japanese ;  the 
twelve  cantons  of  the  Etruse  league,  and  their 
twelve  Lucumons,  or  chiefs  of  cantons;  the  con- 
federation of  the  twelve  cities  of  Ionia,  and  that 
of  the  twelve  cities  of  Eolia;  the  twelve  Tcheou 
into  which  Chun  divided  China;  the  twelve 
countries  into  which  the  Coreaiis  divided  the 
world;  the  twelve  officers  chosen  to  draw  the 
coffin  at  the  funeral  of  the  King  of  Tunquin ;  the 
twelve  horses ;  the  twelve  elephants,  etc.,  used  in 
that  ceremony. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  number  seven  repre- 
senting the  planets.  So  the  seven  divisions  of 
the  city  of  Ecbatane;  the  seven  gates  of  the  cav- 
ern of  Mithra,  or  sun;  the  seven  floors  of  the 
tower  of  Babylon,  with  another  representing  the 
heaven,  and  also  the  temple  of  Jupiter;  the  seven 
gates  of  the  city  of  Thebes,  called  each  one  by  the 
name  of  a  planet;  the  seven  piped  flute  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  god  Pan  who  represented  the 
universe ;  the  seven  stringed  lyre  of  Apollo,  or  sun ; 


20  TRUE    SPIRIT    OF 

the  book  of  fate  composed  of  seven  memoran- 
dums; the  seven  prophetic  rings  of  the  Brach- 
manes,  on  which  the  name  of  a  planet  was  en- 
graved; the  seven  stones  dedicated  to  planets  in 
Laconia;  the  immemorial  division  into  seven  tribes 
adopted  by  the  Egyptians  and  the  Indians ;  the 
seven  idols  pompously  carried  every  year  by  the 
Bonzes  into  seven  dift'erent  temples ;  the  seven 
mystical  vowels  vvhich  formed  the  sacred  formula 
in  the  temples  of  the  phmets;  the  seven  Pyrees 
or  altars  of  the  monument  of  Mithra;  the  seven 
Amshaspands,  or  great  geniuses,  invoked  by  the 
Persians  ;  the  seven  Archangels  of  the  Chaldeans ; 
the  seven  sounding  to^^'crs  of  old  Byzantium ;  the 
week  in  all  nations,  or  the  period  of  seven  days 
consecrated  each  one  t(3  a  planet,  as  can  be  illus- 
trated. For  instance,  in  French,  Monday  is  called 
Lundi,  which  is  derived  from  the  latin  Luna,  mean- 
ing moon.  Tuesday  is  called  Mardi,  meaning 
^Mars.  Wednesday  is  called  Mercredi,  meaning 
Mercury.  Thursday  is  called  Jeudi,  meaning  Jupi- 
ter. Friday  is  called  Vendredi,  meaning  Venus. 
Saturday  is  called  Samedi,  meaning  Saturn.  It 
could  also  be  illustrated  by  other  languages  de- 
rived from  tlie  Latin. 

The  number  three  hundred  and  sixty,  which  is 
that  of  the  days  of  the  year,  not  comprising,  how- 
ever, the  epagomenes  or  complementary  days,  was 
also  retraced  by  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  days 
comprised  in  the  theology  of  Orf)heus;  by  the 
three  hundred  and  sixty  cups  of  the  Avater  of  the 


PAGAN  RELIGIONS.  21 

Nile,  of  which  one  was  poured  every  day,  by  the 
Egyptian  priests,  in  a  sacred  cask,  in  the  city  of 
Achante;  by  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  Eons, 
or  geniuses  of  the  Gnostics ;  by  the  three  hundred 
and  sixty  idols  placed  in  the  palace  of  the  Dairi  in 
Japan;  by  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  saints,  or 
geniuses,  who,  the  Papists  believe,  preside  to  each 
day  of  the  year,  (as  seen  in  their  almanacs,)  dogma 
borrowed  from  the  heathens;  by  the  three  hundred 
and  sixty  minor  statues  which  surrounded  that  of 
llebal,  or  the  god  sun,  Bolus,  adored  by  the  ancient 
Arabs;  by  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  chapels 
built  around  the  mosque  of  Balk,  erected  by  the 
care  of  the  chief  of  the  family  of  the  Barmecides ; 
by  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  temples  built  on 
the  mountain  Louham,  in  China;  by  the  wall  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty  stadiums  with  which 
Semiramis  encompassed  the  city  of  Belus,  or  of 
the  sun,  the  famous  Babylon.  In  fine,  the  division 
of  the  Zodiac  into  twenty-seven  parts,  which  ex- 
press the  stations  of  the  moon,  and  into  thirty-six 
which  is  that  of  the  decans,  was  also  the  object  of 
the  political  and  religious  distributions. 

Not  only  the  divisions  of  the  heaven,  but  the 
constellations  themselves  were  represented  in  the 
temples,  and  their  images  consecrated  among  the 
religious  monuments,  and  on  the  medals  of  the 
cities.  The  bright  star  Capella,  in  the  constellation 
Auriga,  had  a  statue  of  brass  gilt  in  the  city  of  the 
Phliassians.  To  the  constellation  Auriga  statues 
and  other  monuments  had  been  erected  in  Greece 


n 


TRUE    SPIRIT   OF 


under  the  names  of  Myrtile,  of  Hippolyte,  of  Sphe- 
rceus,  of  Cillas,  of  Erectee,  etc.  There  were  seen, 
also,  the  statues  and  tombs  of  the  Atlantides. 
JSTear  Argos  was  seen  a  mound,  w^hich  was  said  to 
cover  the  head  of  the  famous  Medusa,  whose  type 
is  in  the  heaven,  under  the  feet  of  Perseus.  The 
moon,  or  Diana  of  Ephesus,  was  adorned  with  the 
figure  of  the  Cancer,  which  is  one  of  the  twelve 
signs,  and  the  mansion  of  this  planet.  The  Ursa, 
adored  under  the  name  of  Calisto,  and  the  Bootes, 
under  that  of  Areas,  had  their  tombs  on  Arcadia, 
near  the  altars  of  the  sun.  To  the  same  Bootes  a 
statue  was  erected  at  Byzantium,  and  also  to  Orion, 
the  famous  IS'embrod  of  the  Assyrians. 

The  Syrians  had  consecrated  in  their  temples 
the  images  of  Pisces,  (fishes,)  one  of  the  signs. 
The  constellations  Nesra,  or  Eagle,  Aiyuk,  or  Goat, 
Yagutho,  or  Pleiades,  and  Suwaha,  or  Alhouwoa, 
and  the  Serpentarius  were  objects  of  idolatry 
among  the  ancient  Sabians.  These  names  are 
found  even  now  in  Hyde's  commentary  on  Ulug- 
Beigh.  Lucian  writes  that  the  whole  religious 
system  of  the  Egyptians  was  taken  from  the  heav- 
en. The  most  of  the  cities  were  founded  and 
built  under  the  inspection  and  protection  of  one  of 
the  signs  of  the  Zodiac.  Their  horoscope  was 
drawn;  hence  the  images  of  stars  on  their  medals. 
The  medals  of  Antioch  represent  the  Ram,  (Aries) 
with  the  crescent  of  the  moon ;  those  of  the  Mam- 
ertines  the  image  of  the  Bull,  (Taurus);  those  of 
the  kings  of  Comargene,  the  image  of  the  Scor- 


PAGAN     RELIGIONS.  23 

pion ;  and  tliose  of  Zeugma  and  of  Anazarba,  the 
image  of  the  Goat,  (Capricornus).  JSTearly  all  the 
signs  are  found  on  the  medals  of  the  Antonincs. 
The  star  Hesperus  was  on  the  national  seal  of  the 
Locrians,  of  the  Ozoles,  and  of  the  Opuntians. 

Likewise  we  shall  remark  that  the  ancient  feasts, 
or  celebrations,  were  connected  with  the  principal 
epochs  of  nature,  and  with  the  heavenly  system. 
Everywhere  tbe  solsticial  and  equinoxial  celebra- 
tions are  found;  even  in  our  days  the  Catholics 
celebrate  the  beginning  of  each  season  of  the  year 
by  fasting  and  abstaining  from  meat.  Fohi,  one 
of  the  most  ancient  emperors  of  China,  ordered 
sacrifices  to  be  offered  to  the  gods  at  the  com- 
mencement of  each  season.  Four  pavilions  were 
erected  to  the  moons  of  the  four  seasons.  The 
ancient  Chinese,  Confucius  says,  established  a 
sacrifice  in  honor  of  Chang-Ty,  at  the  winter  sol- 
stice, and  one  in  the  spring.  The  emperor  alone 
has  the  privilege  to  preside  at  these  two  ceremo- 
nies, as  beicg  the  son  of  heaven.  The  Greeks  and 
the  Romans  did  the  same  for  like  reasons. 

The  Persians  have  their  ISTeurouz,  or  feast  of  the 
sun,  when  this  king  of  the  day  passes  under  the 
Ram,  or  under  the  sign  of  the  equinox  of  the 
spring.  It  is  even  now  one  of  the  greatest  festivi- 
ties in  Persia.  At  the  winter's  solstice  the  ancient 
Egyptians  led  the  sacred  cow  seven  times  around 
the  temple;  and  at  the  equinox  of  the  spring  they 
solemnly  celebrated  the  coming  of  the  sun  to  once 
more  vivify  nature.     The  celebration  of  the  tri- 


24  TRUE     SPIRIT     OF 

umpli  of  fire  and  light  took  place  in  the  city  of  the 
sun,  in  Assyria,  and  was  called  the  celebration  of 
wood-piles.  The  Catholic  Church  has  borrowed 
this  celebration  from  the  heathen,  and  has  fixed  it 
on  the  Saturday  before  Easter. 

The  feasts  celebrated  by  the  Sabians  to  honor 
the  planets,  were  fixed  under  the  sign  of  their 
exaltation;  sometimes  under  that  of  their  mansion; 
so  the  feast  of  Saturn  was  celebrated  by  the  Ro- 
mans in  December,  under  the  Capricornus  (Goat), 
mansion  of  this  planet.  All  tlie  celebrations  of 
the  old  calendar  of  the  Pontifl's  were  connected 
with  the  rise  or  setting  of  some  constellation  or 
star,  as  .can  be  ascertained  by  reading  the  Fastcs  of 
Ovide.  The  religious  genius  of  the  liomans,  and 
the  relations  of  their  celebrations  with  nature,  are 
more  especially  seen  in  the  games  of  the  circus. 
The  sun,  the  moon,  the  planets,  the  elements,  the 
universe  and  its  principal  parts,  were  represented 
with  emblems  analagous  to  their  nature.  In  the 
Hippodrome  the  sun  was  seen  with  steeds  which 
imitated  its  course  in  the  heavens. 

The  fields  of  Olympia  were  represented  by  a 
vast  arena  consecrated  to  the  sun.  In  the  middle 
there  was  a  temple  of  this  god,  crowned  w^ith  his 
image.  The  limits  of  the  course  of  the  sun,  the 
Orient  and  the  Occident,  were  traced,  and  marked 
by  limits  placed  at  the  extremities  of  the  circus. 
The  races  took  place  from  the  east  to  the  west 
seven  times,  because  of  the  seven  planets.  The 
sun,  the  moon,  Jupiter  and  Yenus,  had  each  one 


PAGAN    RELIGIONS.  25 

a  cliariot.  The  Aurigoe,  or  drivers,  wore  garments 
representing  the  colors  of  the  elements.  The 
chariot  of  the  sun  was  drawn  by  four  steeds,  and 
that  of  the  moon  by  two.  The  Zodiac  was  repre- 
sented in  the  circus  by  twelve  gates;  and  also  the 
revolution  of  the  major  and  minor  Ursas.  The 
sea,  or  ^^eptune,  the  earth,  or  Ceres,  and  the  other 
elements,  were  personified  in  actors  who  contend- 
ed for  the  prize. 

The  phases  of  the  moon  were  also  celebrated, 
and  particularly  the  neomeny  or  new-moon;  for 
temples  images  and  mysteries  had  been  dedicated 
to  the  god  ISIonth,  or  Mensis.  All  the  ceremonial 
of  the  procession  of  Isis,  described  in  Apuleo,  re- 
fers to  nature  and  its  parts.  The  sacred  hymns  of 
the  ancients  had  the  same  object,  if  we  may  judge 
of  them  by  those  of  Orpheus.  Chun,  one  of  the 
most  ancient  emperors  of  China,  ordered  many 
hymns  to  be  composed  to  honor  the  sun,  the  moon, 
the  stars,  etc.  All  the  prayers  contained  in  the 
books  Zends  had  the  same  objects.  The  poetical 
chants  of  ancient  authors,  who  have  transmitted 
to  us  the  theogonies  of  Orpheus,  of  Linus,  of  Hesi- 
od,  etc.,  relate  to  nature  and  its  agents.  Hesiod 
thus  addresses  the  Muses:  "Sing  the  gods  immor- 
tal, sons  of  the  earth  and  of  the  starry  sk}';  gods 
born  from  the  bosom  of  night,  and  nursed  by  the 
Ocean ;  the  bright  stars,  the  immense  vault  of  the 
firmament,  and  the  gods  sprung  from  them;  the 
sea,  the  rivers,  etc." 

The  songs  of  lopas,  in  the  banquet  offered  by 

a 


26  TRUE   SPIRIT   OF 

Dido  to  the  Trojans,  contain  the  lessons  of  the 
learned  Atlas  about  the  course  of  the  snn  and  of 
the  moon;  about  the  origin  of  men,  of  animals,  etc. 
In  the  Pastorals  of  Virgil,  the  old  Silene  sings  the 
chaos  and  the  organization  of  the  world.  Orpheus 
does  the  same  in  the  Argonautics  of  ApoUonius. 
The  cosniog'ony  of  Sanchoniaton,  or  of  the  Phoe- 
nicians, conceals  under  the  veil  of  allegories  the 
great  secrets  of  nature  which  were  taught  to  those 
initiated.  The  philosophers  who  succeeded  to 
the  poets  called  all  the  parts  of  the  universe  di- 
vine. In  the  opinion  of  Pythagoras  the  celestial 
bodies  were  immortal  and  divine.  The  sun,  the 
moon,  and  all  the  stars  superabundantly  contained 
heat,  or  principle  of  life.  He  placed  the  substance 
of  the  deity  in  the  ethereal  fire,  of  which  the  sun, 
he  said,  was  the  main  focus. 

Parmenides  imagined  a  halo  around  the  world, 
and  called  it  the  substance  of  the  deity;  the  stai's 
partook  of  the  nature  thereof.  Alimeon  of  Croto- 
iia  taught  that  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars 
were  the  g'ods.  Antisthenes  acknowledged  but 
one  deity,  nature.  Plato  attributed  divinity  to  the 
world,  to  the  sky,  to  the  stars,  and  to  the  earth. 
Xenocrates  and  Heraclides  admitted  eight  great 
gods,  the  seven  planets  and  the  heaven  of  the  lixed 
stars.  Theophrastes  called  the  stars  and  the  celes- 
tial signs  first  causes.  Zenon  said  that  the  ether, 
the  stars,  time  and  its  parts  were  gods.  Cleanthes 
admitted  the  dogma  of  the  divinity  of  the  universe 
and  more  especially  of  the  ethereal  fire  that  envel- 


PAGAN     RELIGIONS.  27 

ops  the  spheres,  and  penetrates  them.  .  Diogene, 
the  Babylonian,  related  the  whole  mythology  to 
nature.  Chrysippus  held  that  the  world  was  God. 
He  placed  the  divine  substance  in  the  ethereal  fire, 
in  the  sun,  in  the  moon,  in  the  stars,  in  one  word, 
in  nature  and  its  principal  parts.  Anaximandre, 
Anaximenes  and  Zenon  had  the  same  belief. 

From  this  exposition  of  the  religious  and  polit- 
ical monuments  of  ancient  peoples,  of  their  cele- 
brations, and  of  the  opinions  of  their  philosophers; 
and  also  of  the  historical  facts  brought  forth  be- 
fore, we  draw  these  two  logical  and  vital  conclu- 
sions : — 

1st.  Therefore  the  adoration  of  the  vast  body 
of  nature,  together  with  the  great  soul  which  was 
supposed  to  animate  it;  and  of  its  principal  parts 
and  members,  together  with  the  multifarious  ema- 
nations of  the  great  soul  which  was  supposed  to 
animate  them,  was  the  former  and  universal  religion 
of  mankind  (excepting  the  Hebrews)  before  the 
coming  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2d.  Therefore  the  heathens  did  not  worship  the 
idols  themselves,  to  which  they  had  given  such 
and  such  forms  to  represent  the  objects  of  their 
adorations,  but  they  worshipped  what  in  their 
mind  they  represented,  the  universe  taken  collec- 
tively, as  in  the  idol  of  Pan;  and  the  universe 
taken  separately,  namel}^  the  important  parts  of 
the  universe,  as  in  their  innumerable  idols  of  the 
planets,  stars,  rivers,  etc. 


CHAPTER    II. 

PAGAN    ORIGIN    OF      MYSTERIES. 

"Whether  the  word  mystery  is  derived  from  the 
Greek  muo,  1  close,  or  from  mueo,  I  teach,  is  not 
an  important  question,  for  the  word  mystery  has 
always  implied  the  double  idea  of  secrecy  and  of 
instruction.  Kings,  emperors,  and  even  the  most 
liberal  of  the  legislators,  seem  to  have  believed, 
from  the  very  cradle  of  nations,  that  people  ought 
to  be  governed  with  fables,  because  they  are  too 
weak  minded,  and  too  ignorant  to  understand  and 
bear  the  truth.  Of  all  the  errors  which  have  en- 
shrouded the  human  race,  none  has  been  more 
injurious  to  progress,  virtue,  and  happiness  among 
men.  Even  in  our  days,  of  all  the  existing  gov- 
ernments, there  is  but  one,  if  any  at  all,  which 
does  not  place  its  strength  upon  the  erroneous 
basis  that  the  people,  being  not  able  to  understand 
and  bear  the  truth,  are  more  easily  ruled  by  being 
kept  in  their  ignorance  and  superstition.  This 
great  error  gave  birth  to  mysteries. 

"When  men  constituted  themselves  into  national 
bodies,  they  chose  men,  and  vested  them  Avith  the 
power  of  administering  their  interests.  Those 
(28) 


PAGAN   ORIGIN   OF   MYSTERIES.  29 

men  forfeited  their  mandate,  and  became  the 
tyrants  of  their  constituents.  In  order  to  secure 
and  perpetuate  their  sway,  they  associated  to  their 
personal  interests  hierophants,  priests  of  all  kinds, 
astronomers,  philosophers,  and  poets,  who  com- 
posed fables,  intended  to  have  a  moral  bearing 
upon  the  people,  and  to  make  their  masses  be- 
lieve them  as  being  the  truth.  Those  fables  they 
called  mysteries. 

Egypt  had  her  initiations,  known  under  the 
name  of  mysteries  of  Osiris  and  Isis ;  from  which 
those  of  Bacchus  and  Ceres  were  mostly  copied. 
"When  we  compare  the  courses  and  adventures  of 
the  Ceres  of  the  Greek,  with  those  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Isis,  we  can  not  but  see  the  filiation  of  these 
two  fables.  The  poems  whose  Bacchus  is  the 
hero,  and  the  history  of  the  Osiris,  the  ceremonies 
practiced  to  honor  these  two  deities,  and  the  iden- 
tity of  both  acknowledged  by  the  ancients,  evi- 
dently prove  that  the  mysteries  of  the  latter  have 
given  birth  to  the  former.  Cybele  and  Atys  had 
their  initiations,  and  the  Cabires  also. 

The  Chinese  had  and  still  have  mysteries  on 
Foe,  and  Pousa;  the  Japanese  upon  Xaca  and 
Amida ;  the  Siamois  on  Sommonacodom ;  the  In- 
dians on  Brama  and  Rudra;  the  Parsis  upon 
Ormuzd  and  Ahriman.  The  Selles  studied  the 
mysterious  words  of  the  doves  of  Bodone ;  Persia, 
Ethiopia,  Scythia,  Gaul,  and  Scandinavia,  had  their 
caverns,  their  holy  mounts,  their  sacred  oaks, 
where  the  brahmanes,  the  astrologera,  the  gymuo- 


30  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

sophists  and  the  driiids,  pronounced  the  inexphca- 
ble  oracle  of  the  immortals.  The  Mahomedans 
have  mysteries  on  the  miracles  of  Mahomet. 

We  hope  to  interest  and  instruct  the  reader  in 
translating  the  following  extract  from  the  Voyage 
of  Anacharsis,  a  reliable  work.  Auacharsis  is  sup- 
posed to  have  traveled  in  Greece,  in  the  fourth 
century  before  the  Christian  era.  He  thus  re- 
lates the  mysteries  of  Eleusis : 

"I  shall  speak  of  the  most  important  point 
of  the  religion  of  the  Athenians,  of  those  mys- 
teries whose  origin  is  lost  in  the  night  of  ages; 
whose  ceremonies  inspire  no  less  terror  than  ven- 
eration ;  and  wdiose  secret  has  never  been  revealed, 
except  by  a  few  persons  who  were  immediately 
devoted  to  death,  and  to  public  execration ;  for 
the  law  not  only  pronounces  against  them,  the 
confiscation  of  their  property  and  the  loss  of  their 
life,  but  it  orders  that  a  column  be  erected,  to 
perpetuate  the  rememberance  of  their  crime  and 
of  their  punishment. 

"  Of  all  the  mysteries  estabhshed  in  honor  of 
the  gods,  none  were  more  celebrated  than  those 
of  Ceres.  This  goddess  herself,  it  is  said,  regulat- 
ed them,  while  she  was  wandering  on  the  earth 
for  the  purpose  of  finding  Proserpine,  ravished  by 
Pluto,  she  arrived  in  the  plain  of  Eleusis.  Pleased 
with  the  welcome  extended  to  her  by  the  inhabi- 
tants, she  presented  them  with  two  signalled  bless- 
ings, asrriculture,  and  initiation  to  a  sacred  doc- 
trine.     It    is  added,  that    the  minor  mysteries 


OF    MYSTERIES.  81 

which  are  preparatory  to  the  major,  were  institu- 
ted to  the  honor  of  Hercules. 

"People  believe,  that,  wherever  the  Athenians 
established  the  mysteries  of  Eleusis,  the  spirit  of 
union  and  humanity  became  more  general ;  be- 
cause they  free  the  soul  from  ignorance  and 
stains;  procure  the  particular  assistance  of  the 
gods;  the  means  of  arriving  at  the  perfection  of 
virtue;  the  sweets  of  a  holy  life;  the  hope  of  a 
peaceable  death,  and  of  an  endless  bliss.  Those 
initiated  will  occupy  a  distinguished  place  in  the 
Elysian  fields;  they  will  enjoy  a  pure  light,  and 
they  will  dwell  in  the  bosom  of  the  Deity ;  where- 
as, those  who  are  profane  will  dwell  hereafter  in 
abodes  of  darkness  and  of  horror. 

"In  order  to  avoid  such  an  alternative  the 
Greeks  flocked  from  everywhere  to  Eleusis  to  find 
the  promised  bliss.  Though  young,  the  Athe- 
nians are  admitted  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  in- 
itiation; and  those  whenever  participated  to  them 
ask  this  favor  before  they  die ;  the  menaces  and 
the  pictui'es  of  the  sufi:erings  of  another  life,  be- 
fore considered  as  a  subject  of  derision,  cause  a 
more  vivid  impression  on  the  mind ;  and  then 
terror  generates  weakness.  However,  there  are 
enlightened  men  who  do  not  believe  that  there  is 
any  need  for  them  to  be  initiated  in  order  to  be 
virtuous.  Socrates  constantly  declined  joining 
the  mysteries;  and,  one  day,  Diogenes  being  so- 
licited, in  my  presence,  to  ask  for  initiation,  an- 
swered; '  Patoecion,  a  famous  thi«f,  was  initiated; 


32  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

EpaminoDdas  and  Agcsilas  never  asked  for  it. 
Can  I  believe  that  the  former  will  go  to  the  Elysian 
fields  and  the  latter  to  the  Tartarus.' 

"All  the  Greeks  can  aspire  to  participate  to  the 
mysteries :  an  ancient  law  excludes  the  foreigners. 
The  major  mysteries  are  celebrated  every  year  on 
the  lifteenth  of  the  month  of  Boedromion,  The 
celebration  of  the  minor  mysteries  is  also  annual, 
and  takes  place  six  months  before.  During  the 
celebration  of  the  major  mysteries  the  tribunals 
are  closed.  The  day  following,  the  senate  pro- 
nounces the  -penalty  of  death  against  those  who 
have  wilfully  disturbed  the  ceremonies.  This  se- 
verity is  required  to  maintain  order  among  the 
immense  multitude  of  people.  In  time  of  war 
the  Athenians  send  to  their  foes  safe  conducts  to 
induce  them  to  assist  at  the  celebration. 

"  On  the  fourteenth  of  Boedromion,  in  the 
second  year  of  the  one  hundred  and  ninth  Olym- 
piad, I  left  Athens  with  several  of  my  friends. 
The  gate  through  which  the  Athenians  pass  to  go 
to  Eleusis  is  called  sacred.  The  space  between 
these  two  cities  is  of  about  one  hundred  stadiums. 
After  crossing  a  high  hill  decked  with  rosy  laurels, 
we  entered  the  territory  of  Eleusis;  and  we  ar- 
rived on  the  banks  of  two  small  brooks  conse- 
crated, the  one  to  Ceres,  and  the  other  to  Proser- 
pine. I  mention  them  because  the  priests  of  the 
temple  are  the  only  ones  who  are  permitted  to 
fish  in  them;  and  because  their  waters  are  salted, 
and    are    used  in  the  ceremonies  of   initiation. 


OF    MYSTERIES.  33 

Farther,  on  the  bridge  of  a  river  named  Cephize, 
we  had  to  bear  the  mockeries  of  a  numerous  pop- 
ulace, who  stand  there  to  criticize  the  comers,  and 
more  especially  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
Republic.  It  is  an  old  tradition  that  Ceres  had 
been  welcomed  on  this  very  spot  by  an  old  woman^ 
called  Yambe. 

"  At  a  short  distance  from  the  sea  there  is  a 
high  and  long  hill,  at  the  eastern  end  of  which  the 
famous  temple  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine  has  been 
reared.  Further  down  is  the  small  city  of  Eleusis. 
In  the  vicinity,  and  on  the  hill  itself,  there  are 
chapels  and  altars,  and  rich  country-seats.  The 
temple,  built  under  the  care  of  Pericles,  on  the 
bare  rock,  is  of  pantelic  marble ;  and  is  turned 
towards  the  Orient.  It  is  so  vast  as  magnificent ; 
its  enclosure  at  the  south  is  of  about  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  feet,  and  at  the  east  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five.  The  most  celebrated 
artists  have  adorned  this  temple  with  master- 
pieces of  art. 

"  Among  the  numerous  priests  who  ofiBciate  in 
the  temple,  there  are  four  principal.  The  first  is 
the  Hierophant ;  his  name  designates  the  one  who 
reveals  the  sacred  things,  and  his  main  office  is  to 
initiate  the  postulants  to  the  mysteries.  He  ap- 
pears with  a  distinguished  tunic;  his  forehead  is 
decked  with  a  diadem,  and  his  hair  is  floating  on 
his  shoulders.  His  age  must  be  mature  enough 
to  correspond  with  the  gravity  of  his  ministry, 
and  his  voice  fine  enough  to  be  pleasing  to  the 


34  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

ears.  His  priesthood  is  for  life ;  and  he  is  obliged 
to  keep  celibacy.  The  second  priest  carries  the 
sacred  Hambeau  in  the  ceremonies,  and  purifies 
the  candidates;  he  has  also  the  f)rivilege  of  wear- 
ing a  diadem.  The  two  others  are  the  sacred 
herald,  and  the  assistant  at  the  altar. 

"The  holiness  of  their  ministry  is  rendered 
even  more  respectable  by  their  noble  birth.  The 
Hiero pliant  is  chosen  in  the  famih'  of  the  Eumoi- 
pides,  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  Athens ;  the 
sacred  herald  in  that  of  the  Ceryees,  which  is  a 
collateral  branch  of  the  other;  the  two  other 
priests  belong  also  to  illustrious  families.  These 
four  priests  have  under  their  command  other  min- 
isters, such  as  the  interpreters,  the  singers,  and 
other  officers,  who  have  the  direction  of  the  pro- 
cessions and  other  cermonies.  Also  there  are  at 
Eleusis  priestesses  consecrated  to  Ceres  and  to 
Proserpine.  They  have  the  privilege  of  initiating 
certain  persons  on  particular  daj-s,  and  to  oiFer 
sacrifices. 

"The  celebrations  are  presided  by  the  second  of 
the  Archontes,  whose  duty  is  to  keep  order,  and 
to  prevent  any  change  or  alteration  in  the  worship. 
They  last  several  days.  Sometimes  those  initiated 
interrupt  their  sleep  to  continue  their  pious  exer- 
cises :  we  saw  them  during  the  night  crossing  the 
enclosure,  walking  in  silence  two  by  two,  and 
holding  each  one  a  lighted  torch.  When  they 
reentered  the  sacred  asylum  they  hastened  their 
march ;  and  I  learned  that  they  were  going  to  figure 


OF   MYSTERIES.  35 

the  courses  of  Ceres  and  of  Proserpine ;  and  that, 
in  their  rapid  evolutions,  they  shook  their  torches, 
and  handed  them  to  each  other.  The  hglit  which 
springs  out,  it  is  said,  has  the  virtue  of  purifying 
the  souls,  and  hecomes  the  symbol  of  the  light 
which  ought  to  instruct  them. 

"One  day  games  were  celebrated  in  the  honor 
of  the  two  goddesses.  Famous  champions  had 
come  from  various  parts  of  Greece,  and  the  prize 
was  a  measure  of  barley,  raised  in  the  neighboring 
plain,  whose  inhabitants  hold  from  Ceres  the  art 
of  cultivating  this  sort  of  wheat.  On  the  sixth 
day,  the  most  brilliant  of  all,  the  priests  of  the 
temple,  and  those  initiated,  carried  from  Athens  to 
Eleusis,  the  statue  of  lacchus,  said  to  be  the  son 
of  Ceres  or  of  Proserpine.  The  god,  crowned  with 
myrtle,  held  a  flambeau.  About  thirty  thousand 
people  followed,  making  the  air  resound  with  the 
name  of  lacchus.  The  march,  led  by  the  sound 
of  instruments  and  the  singing  of  hymns,  was 
sometimes  suspended  to  perform  dances  and  sac- 
rifices. The  statue  was  introduced  in  the  temple 
of  Eleusis,  and  then  taken  back  in  his  own,  with 
the  same  splendors,  and  the  same  ceremonies. 

"Many  of  those  who  composed  the  procession 
had  been  initiated  only  to  the  minor  mysteries, 
annually  celebrated  in  a  small  temple,  situated 
near  the  Illissus.  There  a  priest  examines  and 
prepares  the  candidates ;  he  excludes  them  if  they 
are  guilty  of  enormous  crimes,  and  particularly 
if  they  have  committed  murder,  even  without 


B^  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

purpose.  He  imposes  upon  the  others  frequent 
expiations,  and  teaches  them  the  first  rudiments 
of  the  sacred  doctrine.  This  noviciate  sometimes 
lasts  several  years,  but  generally  one  only.  Dur- 
ing the  time  of  probation,  the  candidates  assist  at 
the  celebration  of  the  major  mysteries;  but  they 
remain  at  the  door  of  the  temple. 

"  The  initiation  to  the  great  mysteries  had  been 
appointed  for  the  night  following.  One  of  the 
preparatory  ceremonies  was  the  offering  of  sacri- 
fices, for  the  prosperity  of  the  state,  presided  by 
the  second  of  the  Archontes.  The  novices  were 
crowned  with  myrtle.  Their  robes  seem  to  con- 
tract such  a  holiness  that  many  of  them  wear 
them  until  they  are  worn  out;  others  make  of 
them  swaddling-clothes  for  their  children,  or  hang 
them  in  the  temple.  We  saw  them  enter  in  the 
sacred  hall ;  and,  on  the  next  morning,  one  of  my 
friends,  who  had  been  newly  initiated,  related  to 
me  many  of  the  ceremonies  which  he  had  wit- 
nessed. 

"He  told  me,  'We  found  the  ministers  of  the 
temple  dressed  in  their  pontifical  robes.  The 
Hierophant,  who,  in  that  moment,  represents  the 
author  of  the  universe,  had  symbols  which  desig- 
nated the  power  supreme.  The  flambeau-bearer 
and  the  assistant  to  the  altar  appeared  with  the 
attributes  of  the  sun  and  of  the  moon ;  and  the 
sacred  herald  with  those  of  Mercury.  We  had 
just  taken  our  seats  when  the  herald  exclaimed: 
"Away  from  here  ye  profane  and  impious  men, 


OF    MYSTERIES.  37 

and  all  tlios-e  whose  souls  are  contamiuated  with 
crimes!'  The  penalty  of  death  was  decreed 
against  those  who  had  the  temerity  of  remaining 
in  the  temple  without  being  entitled  to  it,  after 
this  admonition.  The  second  of  the  priests  or- 
dered that  the  skins  of  the  victims  be  spread 
beneath  our  feet;  and  he  purified  us  anew.  The 
rituals  of  initiation  were  loudly  read,  and  hymns 
in  the  honor  of  Ceres  were  sung, 

"  Soon  after  a  roar  was  heard.  The  earth 
seemed  to  shake.  Amid  lightning  and  thunder 
phantoms  and  spectres  were  seen  roaming  in 
darkness.  They  filled  the  holy  hall  with  soul- 
rending  groans  and  bowlings.  Sufferings,  cares, 
diseases,  poverty,  and  death,  under  hideous  forms, 
struck  our  gaze.  The  Ilierophant  explained  these 
various  emblems,  and  his  vivid  pictures  added  to 
our  terror.  However,  guided  by  a  feeble  light, 
we  were  advancing  towards  the  regions  of  the 
Tartarus,  where  the  souls  get  purified  before  they 
reach  the  abode  of  bliss.  Amidst  sorrowful  voices 
we  heard  the  bitter  regrets  of  those  who  had  com- 
mitted suicide.  They  are  punished,  the  Iliero- 
phant said,  because  thej'  have  deserted  the  posts 
assigned  to  them  by  the  gods. 

"He  had  scarcely  pronounced  these  words, 
when  brass  gates  were  thrown  open  before  us 
with  a  frightful  roar,  and  then  we  saw  the  horrors 
of  the  Tartarus.  It  resounded  with  the  rattle  of 
chains,  and  the  yells  of  its  unfortunate  inmates. 
Learn  from  us,  did  they  say,  to  respect  the  gods, 


38  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

and  to  be  just  and  grateful.  "We  saw  the  furies, 
armed  with  whips,  unmercifully  torturing  the 
criminals.  These  frightening  pictures,  made  more 
so  by  the  sonorous  and  imposing  voice  of  the 
Hierophant,  who  seemed  to  exercise  the  ministry 
of  divine  vengeance,  filled  our  soul  with  terror. 
In  fine,  we  were  introduced  in  delightful  thickets; 
in  enamelled  meadows;  fortunate  abodes,  image 
of  the  Elysean  fields,  where  a  pure  light  shone, 
where  charming  voices  were  heard.  AYe  passed 
into  the  sanctuary,  where  we  saw  the  statue  of 
the  goddess  resplendent  with  brightness,  and 
dressed  in  the  richest  attire.  In  this  sanctuary 
our  trials  ended;  there  our  eyes  saw,  and  our 
ears  heard,  what  we  are  forbidden  to  reveal.  I 
will  simply  confess  that  in  the  delirium  of  a  holy 
joy  we  sung  hymns  of  joy.' 

"Such  was  the  recital  of  the  newly-initiated. 
Another  told  me  a  circumstance  which  the  other 
omitted.  One  day,  during  the  celebrations,  the 
Hierophant  uncovered  the  mysterious  baskets, 
which  are  carried  in  the  procession,  and  which 
are  the  object  of  the  public  veneration.  They 
contained  the  sacred  symbols,  whose  sight  is  pro- 
hibited to  those  uninitiated,  and  which  are  but 
cakes  of  various  forms,  grains  of  salt,  and  other 
objects,  which  relate  to  the  history  of  Ceres,  and 
to  the  dogmas  taught  in  the  mysteries.  When 
those  initiated  have  taken  them  from  a  basket, 
and  put  them  in  another,  they  say  that  they  have 
fasted  and  drank  the  Ciceon. 


OF    MYSTERIES.  89 

"  I  often  met  witli  men  who  "were  not  initiated, 
and  who  freely  expressed  their  opinions  abont  the 
secret  doctrines  tanght  in  the  mysteries.  One  of 
the  disciples  of  Plato  said:  'It  seems  to  be  certain 
that  the  Hierophant  teaches  the  necessity  of  pains 
and  rewards  beyond  the  grave;  and  that  he  rep- 
resents to  the  postnlants  the  various  destinies  of 
men  here  below  and  hereafter.  Also  it  seems  to  be 
certain  that  he  teaches  them,  that,  among  the  great 
number  of  deities  adored  by  the  multitude,  the 
ones  are  pure  spirits,  who,  ministers  of  the  will  of 
the  god  supreme,  regulate  under  his  command  the 
motion  of  the  universe;  and  the  others  have  been 
simple  mortals,  whose  tombs  are  kept  yet  in  several 
parts  of  Greece.  Is  it  not  natural  to  think,  that, 
in  order  to  give  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  Deity, 
the  institutors  of  mysteries  endeavored  to  main- 
tain, and  to  thus  perpetuate  a  dogma,  whose  ves- 
tiges are  more  or  less  visible  in  the  opinions,  and 
ceremonies,  of  nearly  all  nations — that  of  a  God, 
who  is  the  principal  and  end  of  all  things?  Such 
is,  in  my  opinion,  the  august  secret  revealed  to 
those  initiated.'  " 

"  ISTo  doubt  political  ends  encouraged  the  in- 
stitution of  this  religious  association.  Polytheism 
was  generally  spread,  and  was  pleasing  the  people, 
but  on  account  of  the  multiplicity  of  the  gods  it 
was  dano-erous  to  societv.  It  was  thought  wiser 
not  to  destroy  this  belief,  but  to  counterbalance  it 
by  a  purer  religion.  As  the  people  are  more  re- 
strained by  the  laws  than  by  abstract  principles 


40  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

of  morals,  the  legislators  contrived  to  harmonize 
the  superstition  of  the  people  with  purer  religious 
and  moral  principles,  which  they  should  simulta- 
neously teach.  'Thus,'  the  disciple  of  Plato 
added,  'you  understand  why  the  gods  are  repre- 
sented on  the  theatre  of  Athens :  the  magistrates 
who  do  not  believe  the  false  doctrines  of  Polythe- 
ism are  very  careful  not  to  repress  a  superstition 
and  a  license,  which  amuse  the  people,  and 
whose  repression  would  indispose  them. 

" '  Also  you  understand  how  two  religions,  though 
opposed  in  their  dogmas,  conjointly  exist  in  peace 
and  harmony  in  the  same  cities.  The  reason  of 
it  is,  that,  though  their  dogmas  are  diiferent,  these 
religions  use  the  same  language,  and  that  the  truth 
has  for  the  error  the  same  tolerance,  and  courtesy, 
which  the  truth  should  obtain  from  the  error. 
Externally  the  mysteries  present  but  the  worship 
adopted  by  the  people.  The  hymns  sung  in  pub- 
lic, and  the  most  of  the  ceremonies  retrace  to  the 
masses  many  circumstances  of  the  rajje  of  Proser- 
pine, of  the  courses  of  Ceres,  of  her  arrival  and 
sojourn  at  Eleusis.  The  vicinity  of  this  city  is 
full  of  monuments  reared  in  the  honor  of  the  god- 
dess, and  the  priests  show,  as  yet,  the  stone  upon 
which,  tradition  relates,  she  rested  when  exhausted 
with  fatigue.  Thus,  on  one  hand,  the  ignorant 
people  believe  appearances  as  if  they  wore  reali- 
ties; and  on  another  hand,  those  who  have  been 
initiated,  having  a  clear  sight  of  the  spirit  of  the 
mysteries,  think  they  are  right  on  account  of  the 
purity  of  their  intentions.' 


OF    MYSTERIES.  -fl. 

"  Whatever  it  may  be  of  the  supposition  I  have 
related,  the  initiation  is  now  but  a  vain  ceremony. 
Those  who  have  been  initiated  are  not  more  vir- 
tuous than  the  others;  every  day  they  violate 
their  pledge  of  abstaining  from  fowl,  from  fish, 
from  pomegranates,  from  beans,  and  several  other 
kinds  of  fruits,  and  of  vegetables.  Several  have 
contracted  this  sacred  engagement  through  un- 
worthy means;  for,  not  long  ago,  we  have  seen  the 
government  perniitting  the  sale  of  the  privilege 
of  participating  to  the  mysteries ;  and,  for  a  long 
while,  women  of  ill  fame  have  been  admitted  to 
initiation." 

As  it  would  require  volumes  to  describe  the 
ceremonies  of  all  these  Pagan  mysteries,  we  shall 
only  examine  their  general  character;  show  forth 
their  end;  group  together  their  common  features, 
and  glance  at  the  means  used  by  political  and  re- 
ligious leaders,  to  give  a  full  scope  to  this  power- 
ful governmental  engine. 

The  mysteries  of  Eleusis,  and  in  general  of  all 
mysteries,  aimed  at  the  amelioration  of  mankind, 
at  the  reformation  of  morals,  and  at  taking  hold 
of  the  souls  of  men  with  more  power  than  through 
the  means  of  the  laws.  If  the  means  used  was  not 
lawful,  we  must  however  confess  that  the  aim  was 
laudable,  not  in  the  minds  of  kings,  emperors, 
hierophants  and  other  priests,  but  in  itself.  Cicero, 
the  illustrious  Roman  orator,  said,  that  the  institu- 
tion of  mysteries  was  one  of  the  most  useful  to 
humanity ;  at  least  the  mysteries  of  Eleusis,  whose 
4 


42  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

effects,  he  added,  have  been  to  civilize  nations;  to 
soften  the  barbarous  and  ferocions  habits  and  mor- 
als of  the  first  societies  of  men;  and  to  make 
known  the  most  important  principles  of  morals, 
which  initiate  man  to  a  sort  of  life  that  is  worthy 
of  his  nature. 

The  same  was  said  of  Orpheus,  who  introduced 
in  Greece  the  mysteries  of  Bacchus.  Poets  wrote 
of  him,  that  he  had  tamed  tigers  and  lions ;  and 
that  he  attracted  even  trees  and  rocks  with  the 
melodious  strains  of  his  lyre.  Mysteries  aimed  at 
the  establishment  of  the  reign  of  justice  and  of 
religion,  in  the  system  of  the  rulers,  who,  from 
policy,  maintained  the  one  by  the  other.  This 
double  end  is  contained  in  this  verse  of  Yirgil:  — 
"Learn  from  me  to  respect  justice  and  the  gods;" 
this  was  the  great  lesson  given  by  the  Ilierophant 
when  the  postulants  were  initiated. 

Those  initiated  learned  in  those  profound  sanc- 
tuaries, under  the  dark  and  deep  veil  of  fables, 
their  duties  towards  their  fellow  men ;  pretended 
duties  which  they  were  taught  to  the  gods,  and, . 
more  unfortunately  yet,  pretended  duties  towards 
their  political  and  religious  leaders,  or  rather  ty- 
rants. 

Eulers  used  all  imaginable  means  to  give  a  su- 
pernatural character  to  their  laws,  and  to  make 
the  people  believe  that  they  had  this  character. 
The  imposing  x>icture  of  the  universe,  and  the 
poetry  of  mythological  conceptions,  gave  to  the 
legislators  the  subject  of  the  varied  and  wonderful 


OF    MYSTERIES.  43 

scenes  which  vrere  represented  in  the  temples  of 
Egypt,  of  Asia,  and  of  Greece.  All  that  can  pro- 
duce illusion,  all  the  resources  of  witchcraft  and 
of  theatrical  exhibitions,  which  were  but  the  secret 
knowledge  of  the  effects  of  nature,  and  the  art  of 
imitating  them;  the  brilliant  pomp  of  festivities; 
the  variety  and  riches  of  decorations  and  costumes; 
the  majesty  of  the  ceremonial;  the  captivating 
power  of  music  ;  the  choirs  ;  the  chants ;  the  dan- 
ces; the  electrifying  sounds  of  cymbals,  calculated 
to  produce  enthusiasm  and  delirium,  and  more  fa- 
vorable to  religious  exaltation  than  the  calm  of 
reason,  all  was  brought  to  action  to  attract  the 
people  to  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries ;  and  to 
create  in  their  souls  a  want,  a  desire  for  them. 

Under  the  charms  of  pleasure,  of  rejoicings  and 
of  celebrations,  legislators  and  other  rulers  often- 
times concealed  a  salutary  aim;  and  they  treated 
the  people  like  a  child,  which  can  never  be  more 
efficaciously  instructed,  than  when  he  thinks  that 
his  preceptor  intends  only  to  amuse  him.  They 
resorted  to  great  institutions  to  shape  society ;  to 
form  habits;  and  to  direct  public  opinion  and 
morals. 

How  magnificent  was  the  procession  of  those 
initiated  advancing  to  the  temple  of  Eleusis!  The 
banners,  the  sacred  chants,  the  music,  the  cos- 
tumes, and  the  dances,  had  a  rapturous  effect  on 
the  masses.  They  thronged  an  immense  temple; 
we  say  immense,  for  if  we  judge  the  number  of 
those  initiated  by  the  number  of  those  who  assem- 


44  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

bled  iu  the  plains  of  Tliriase,  when  Xerxes  went 
to  Attic,  the  J  were  more  than  thirty  thousand. 
The  costly  and  glowing  ornaments  which  decked 
the  vast  hall,  the  symbolic  statues,  which  were 
master-pieces  of  sculpture,  and  the  mysterious  pic- 
tures which  were  symmetrically  arranged  in  the 
rotunda  of  the  sanctuary,  tilled  the  soul  with 
amazement,  and  with  a  religious  respect. 

All  that  was  seen  in  the  temple,  the  decorations, 
costumes,  ceremonies,  splendor;  and  all  that  was 
heard,  the  sacred  chants,  the  melody  of  instru- 
ments, the  mythological  teaching,  the  elevating 
poetry  and  the  eloquence  of  orators,  struck  the 
spectators  with  wonder,  produced  and  left  in  their 
souls  the  most  profound  impressions.  ISTot  only 
the  universe  was  presented  to  their  gaze  under  the 
emblem  of  an  egg  divided  into  twelve  parts,  repre- 
senting the  months  of  the  year,  but  also  the  divis- 
ion of  the  universe  into  cause  active  and  cause 
passive,  and  its  division  into  the  Principle  of  light, 
or  good  god,  and  the  Principle  of  darkness,  or  bad 
god. 

Yarron  informs  us  that  the  great  gods  adored  at 
Samothrace  were  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  con- 
sidered, the  first  as  the  cause  active,  and  the  second 
as  the  cause  passive  of  generation.  In  other  mys- 
teries the  same  idea  was  retraced  by  the  exposition 
of  the  Phallus  and  of  the  Cteis.  It  is  the  Lingham 
of  the  Indians. 

The  same  was  done  in  regard  to  the  division  of 
the  world  into  two  Principles,  the  one  of  light,  or 


OF    MYSTERIES.  45 

good  god,  and  the  other  of  darkness,  or  bad  god. 
Pkitarch  writes,  that  this  religious  dognia  had 
been  consecrated  in  the  initiations,  and  in  the  mj'^s- 
teries  of  all  nations;  and  the  example  which  he 
puts  forth,  extracted  from  both  the  theology  of  the 
Chaldeans,  and  from  the  dogma  of  the  symbolic 
egg  produced  by  these  two  Principles,  is  a  proof  of 
it.  In  the  temple  of  Eleusis  there  were  scenes  of 
darkness  and  of  light,  which  were  successively 
presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  candidates  to  initia- 
tion: those  scenes  retraced  the  combats  of  the 
Principle  of  light,  or  good  god,  and  of  the  Principle 
of  darkness,  or  bad  god. 

In  the  cavern  of  the  god  Sun,  or  Mithra,  the 
priests  had  represented,  among  the  mysterious 
pictures  of  the  initiation,  the  descent  of  the  souls 
to  the  earth,  and  their  return  to  the  heavens 
through  the  seven  planetary  spheres.  Also  were 
exhibited  the  phantoms  of  invisible  powers,  which 
chained  them  to  bodies,  or  freed  them  from  their 
bonds.  Several  millions  of  men  witnessed  those 
various  spectacles,  of  which  they  were  most  severely 
forbidden  to  speak  before  the  public.  However 
the  poets,  the  orators,  and  the  historians  give  us 
in  their  writings  some  idea  of  what  were  those 
scenes,  formulas,  ceremonies,  fables,  and  morals, — 
as,  for  instance,  in  what  they  have  written  about 
the  adventures  of  Ceres,  and  of  her  daughter. 
There  was  seen  the  chariot  of  this  goddess  drawn 
by  dragons;  it  seemed  to  hover  above  the  earth 
and  the  seas.     It  was  a  true  theatrical  exhibition, 


46  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

The  variety  of  the  scenes  was  pleasing,  and  tlie 
play  of  machines  was  attractive.  Grave  were  the 
actors,  majestic  the  ceremonial,  and  passion-stirr- 
ing the  fables  and  representations. 

The  hierophants,  or  priests,  profoundl}"  versed 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  genius  of  the  people,  and 
in  the  art  of  leading  them,  availed  of  the  minutest 
circumstances  to  create  in  them  the  desire  to  be 
initiated  to  their  mysteries.  ISTight  seems  to  be 
the  mother  of  secrecy  and  the  emblem  of  mystery ; 
it  is  favorable  to  prestige  and  illusion;  in  conse- 
quence they  celebrated  their  mysteries  in  the  night. 
The  fifth  day  of  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries 
of  Eleusis  was  renowned  b}'  the  superb  torchlight 
procession,  in  which  those  initiated,  holding  each 
one  a  bright  torch,  walked  two  by  two  wearing 
enigmatic  emblems. 

It  was  during  the  night,  that  the  Egyptians  sol- 
emnly and  processionally  went  to  the  shore  of  a 
lake;  they  embarked,  and  landed  in  an  island 
beautifully  situated  in  the  middle  of  the  lake;  and 
there  they  celebrated  the  mysteries  of  the  passion 
of  Osiris.  At  other  times  those  celebrations  took 
place  in  vast  and  dark  grottos,  or  in  retired  and 
shady  thickets.  Even  rrow,  in  France,  are  seen 
caverns  where  the  Druids  celebrated  their  myste- 
ries; and  forests  where  the  Gauls  assembled  at 
midnight;  hung  the  heads  of  their  vanquished  ene- 
mies; immolated  a  young  virgin  on  the  altar  of 
Teutates;  and  celebrated  their  mysteries  under 
the  leadership  of  the  Druids. 


OF    MYSTERIES.  47 

Tlie  ceremonial  of  the  mysteries  was  ordained, 
particulariy  among  tlie  civilized  and  populous  na- 
tions, in  such  a  manner  that  it  could  not  fail  to 
excite  the  curiosity  of  the  people,  "who  naturally 
eagerly  desire  and  seek  to  know  what  is  held  in 
secrecy.  Legislators  and  hierophants  rendered 
this  curiosity  more  intense  by  the  extremely  strin- 
gent law  of  secrecy  imposed  upon  those  initiated. 
Thus  the  profane,  namel}',  those  uninitiated,  were 
the  more  desirous  to  he  acquainted  with  the  mys- 
teries, and  thus  they  joined  them  in  large  numbers. 
Legislators  gave  to  this  spirit  of  secrecy  the  most 
specious  pretext.  It  was  proper,  they  said,  to  imi- 
tate the  gods  who  concealed  themselves  from 
man's  gaze,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  in  his  soul 
the  desire  to  find  them ;  and  who  have  made  the 
phenomena  of  nature  a  profound  secret  to  them, 
in  order  to  stimulate  them  to  the  study  of  the 
universe.  Those  initiated  were  not  permitted  to 
speak  of  the  mysteries  except  among  themselves. 
The  penalty  of  death  had  been  decreed  against  the 
one  who  would  have  revealed  them,  even  without 
purpose;  and  also  against  any  one  who  would 
have  entered  the  sacred  temple  before  having  been 
previously  initiated. 

Aristoteles  was  accused  of  impiety  by  the  hiero- 
phant  Eurymedon,  for  having  sacrificed  to  the 
manes  of  his  wife,  according  to  the  rite  practiced 
in  the  worship  of  Ceres.  He  had  to  flee,  and  to 
retire  at  Chalcis  to  save  his  life;  and  in  ord^r  to 
clear  his  name  from  this  stain  he  ordered  his  heirs 


48  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

to  erect  a  statue  to  Ceres.  Esclijles,  having  been 
charged  with  having  written  about  m3'sterious  sub- 
jects, saved  his  Hfe  only  by  proving  that  he  had 
never  been  initiated.  The  entry  of  the  temple  of 
Ceres,  and  the  participation  to  her  mysteries,  were 
prohibited  to  the  slaves,  and  to  those  whose  birth 
was  not  legal;  to  women  of  ill  fame,  to  the  phi- 
losophers who  denied  a  Providence,  such  as  the 
Epicureans,  etc.  This  interdiction  was  considered 
as  a  great  deprivation,  for  it  was  generally  believed 
among  the  people  that  initiation  was  the  greatest 
blessing. 

In  fact,  those  initiated  were  taught  that  they 
belonged  to  a  class  of  privileged  beings,  and  were 
the  favorites  of  the  gods.  The  priests  of  Samo- 
thrace  credited  their  initiation  by  promising  favor- 
able winds,  a  speedy  and  safe  navigation  to  travel- 
ers who  were  candidates  to  their  mysteries.  Those 
initiated  to  the  mysteries  of  Orpheus  believed  that 
they  were  no  longer  under  the  rule  of  the  evil 
principle;  that  initiation  made  them  holy,  and 
secured  to  them  future  happiness.  After  the  cere- 
monies of  the  initiation  the  candidate  thus  answer- 
ed to  the  priest:  "I  have  rejected  the  evil  and 
found  the  good."  After  that  he  considered  him- 
self, and  was  considered  by  his  fellows,  wholly 
purified. 

Those  who  were  initiated  to  the  mysteries  of 
Eleusis  believed  that  the  sun  shone  brighter  and 
purer  to  their  eyes  than  to  the  sight  of  other  men; 
also  that  the  goddesses  inspired  and  gave  th^m 


OF    MYSTERIES.  49 

counsels  from  tlie  heaven,  as  seen  bj  the  example 
of  Pericles.  Initiation  was  considered  as  freeing 
the  soul  frqm  the  darkness  of  error ;  as  preventing 
misfortunes;  and  as  securing  happiness  on  earth. 

One  of  the  greatest  blessings  and  privileges  of 
the  initiation,  the  hierophant  and  other  priests 
taught,  was  to  secure  here  below  a  direct  com- 
munion with  the  gods,  and  more  especially  beyond 
the  grave.  According  to  Cicero,  Isocrates,  and 
the  rhetor  Aristides,  when  he  who  had  been  ini- 
tiated departed  from  this  earthly  life  he  inhabited 
meadows  enamelled  with  flowers  of  a  celestial 
beauty,  and  lighted  with  a  sun  brighter  and  purer 
than  the  one  we  see.  In  that  charming  abode  he 
was  to  live  centuries,  and  long  preserve  his  youth, 
"VYhen  arrived  at  an  old  age,  he  was  to  become 
young  again.  There  was  no  labor,  no  sorrow,  but 
all  was  rapture  and  delight. 

In  the  Greek  and  Eoman  mysteries  the  unity 
and  also  the  trinity  of  God  were  consecrated  dog- 
mas. Jupiter  was  adored  as  the  father  of  the  gods 
and  of  men,  and  as  filling  the  whole  universe  with 
his  power.  He  was  the  supreme  monarch  of  na- 
ture :  the  names  of  gods  ascribed  to  the  other  dei- 
ties were  more  of  an  association  in  the  title  than 
in  the  nature  of  their  power,  for  each  one  of  them 
had  a  particular  work  to  perform  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  supreme  God.  In  the  m3'steries  of 
the  religion  of  the  Greeks,  a  hymn  expressing  the 
unity  of  God  or  Jupiter  was  sung;  and  the  High 
Priest,   turning  towards   the  worshippers,    said: 


50  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

"  Admire  tlie  master  of  the  universe ;  lie  is  one ; 
he  is  everywhere."  It  was  acknowledged  by  Eu- 
sebius,  St.  Augustine,  Lactance,  Justin,  Athena- 
goras,  and  many  other  Fathers  of  the  Church,  that 
the  dogma  of  the  unity  of  God  was  admitted  by 
ancient  philosophers,  and  was  the  basis  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Orpheus,  and  of  all  the  mysteries  of  the 
Greeks. 

The  Platonicians  believed  in  the  unity  of  the 
archetype,  or  model  on  which  God  formed  the 
world;  also  they  believed  in  the  unity  of  demiour- 
gos,  or  god-forming,  by  a  consequence  of  the  same 
philosophical  principles,  namely,  from  the  unity 
itself  of  the  universe,  as  can  be  seen  in  Proclus, 
and  in  the  writings  of  the  Platonician  authors. 

Trinity  also,  (see  chapter  fifth)  was  taught  in 
the  mysteries.  Pythagoras,  and  many  other  phi- 
losophers, explained  the  unity  and  trinity  of  God 
by  the  theory  of  numbers.  They  called  the  mon- 
ade  cause,  or  princijjle.  They  expressed  by  the 
number  one,  or  unit,  the  first  cause,  and  they  con- 
cluded to  the  unity  of  God  from  mathematical 
abstractions.  ISText  to  this  unity  they  j)laced 
triades,  which  expressed  faculties  or  powers  ema- 
nated from  them,  and  also  intelligences  of  a  sec- 
ond order.  The  triple  incarnation  of  the  god 
"VYichnou  into  the  body  of  a  virgin  was  one  of  the 
doctrines  taught  in  the  mysteries  of  Mithra. 

So  much  for  the  mysteries  of  Paganism;  how- 
ever, we  shall,  in  the  course  of  this  work,  refer  to 
them   several  times.     Let  us   now   examine  the 


OF   MYSTERIES.  51 

origin  of  the  mysteries,  wliicli,  the  Partiahsts  say, 
Jesus  Christ  has  taught.  Mysteries  suppose  se- 
crecy; but  Jesus  Christ  preached  his  Gospel  in  the 
open  air  to  his  apostles,  to  his  disciples,  to  crowds 
of  people,  and  to  all  who  were  willing  to  hear  his 
doctrines.  He  urged  upon  his  disciples  to  preach 
above  the  roofs  what  he  taught  them.  When, 
after  his  death,  his  apostles  spread  his  gospel,  they 
spoke  in  open  air,  everywhere,  to  masses  of  peo- 
ple; Paul  to  the  Areopagus,  to  thousands  in  Je- 
rusalem, etc.  How  then  can  it  be  supposed  that 
Jesus  Christ  taught  mj'steries?  Indeed,  he  did 
not,  but  afterwards  several  Christian  churches 
did. 

The  Protestant  historian,  Mosheim,  cites  in  his 
History  of  the  Church,  several  authors,  wdio  state, 
that,  in  the  second  century,  several  Christian 
churches  imitated  the  mysteries  of  Paganism. 
The  profound  respect,  they  say,  that  the  people 
entertained  for  those  mysteries,  and  the  extraordi- 
nary sacredness  ascribed  to  them  were  for  the 
Christians  a  motive  sufficient  to  give  a  m3'sterious 
appearance  to  their  religion,  so  as  to  command  as 
much  respect  to  the  pubhc  as  the  religion  of  the 
Pagans.  To  this  etiect  they  called  mysteries  the 
institutions  of  the  Gospel,  particularly  the  Eucha- 
rist. They  used  in  this  ceremony,  and  in  that  of 
baptism,  several  words  and  rites  consecrated  in 
the  mysteries  of  the  Pagans.  This  abuse  com- 
menced in  Orient,  chiefly  in  Egypt;  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century, 


52  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

was  one  of  those  who  contributed  tlie  most  to  this 
innovation,  which  then  spread  in  Occident  when 
Adrian  had  introduced  the  mysteries  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  Empire.  Hence,  a  large  portion  of 
the  service  of  the  Church  hardly  diflered  from 
that  of  Paganism. 

That  the  Church  of  Rome  copied  many  of  the 
ceremonies,  rites,  customs,  and  fables  of  Pagan 
mysteries  is  certain,  for  they  have  been  perpetuated 
in  that  Church  down  to  our  days.  From  the 
Pagan  mysteries  the  Roman  Church  borrowed 
the  following: 

In  the  initiation  to  the  Pagan  mysteries  there 
were  degrees ;  so  in  the  Roman  Church  there  are 
the  degrees  of  porter  or  door-keeper,  of  acolyte, 
of  reader  and  of  exorcist;  the  latter  degree  con- 
fers the  power  of  expelling  the  devil.  The  eccle- 
siastical ornaments  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  with 
the  diiference  of  the  cross  represented  on  them 
and  of  some  trimming,  are  like  those  used  in  the 
mysteries  of  the  Pagans,  at  least  in  Rome,  and  in 
Greece.  The  long  floating  gown,  the  girdle,  the 
casula,  the  stola,  the  dalmatica,  the  round  and 
pyramidal  cap,  the  capa,  and  several  other  gar- 
ments and  ornaments,  are  alike  to  those  used  in 
the  temples,  where  the  mysteries  of  the  Pagans 
were  celebrated. 

In  those  temples  there  was  an  altar  richlj^  deco- 
rated; so  it  is  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  those 
temples  there  were  twelve  flambeaux,  representing 
the  twelve  months  of  the  year :  so  there  are  in 


OF    MYSTERIES.  53 

Catholic  churches,  upon  the  first  degree  ahove  the 
altar,  six  chandeliers  with  six  tapers  burning  dur- 
ing the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  or  mass ;  six 
others  are  on  the  second  degree.  The  vestals 
kept  a  light  constantly  burning  in  the  Pagan  tem- 
ples :  so  a  lamp  is  kept  burning,  day  and  night, 
near  the  altar,  in  the  Catholic  churches.  In  the 
Pagan  temples  the  disc  of  the  sun  and  his  beams 
were  represented:  so  they  are  in  the  Catholic 
churches.  Upon  the  altar,  in  the  Pagan  temples, 
there  was  an  image  of  the  god  Osiris  or  Bacchus, 
and  the  emblems  of  an  aries  or  lamb :  so  upon 
the  altar,  in  Catholic  churches,  there  is  a  taberna- 
cle in  which  God  is  said  to  dwell,  and  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  represents  a  bleeding  lamb. 

The  Pagans  solemnly  and  processionally  carried 
the  image  of  Osiris,  or  Bacchus,  around  the  head 
of  which  there  was  a  halo  representing  the  rays  of 
the  sun :  so  in  the  Romish  church  the  priests  pro- 
cessionally and  with  great  pomp,  carry,  both  in 
the  aisles  of  the  churches  and  on  the  streets,  a  wafer 
which  they  call  God.  It  is  encased  in  a  silver  or 
gold  ostenserium,  whose  circular  centre,  in  which 
their  pretended  God  is  seen  between  two  crystals, 
is  shaped  like  the  disc  of  the  sun;  and  the  outside, 
of  which  called  halo  or  glory,  is  shaped  like  his 
rays.  In  the  Pagan  temples  there  was  a  sanctu- 
ary exclusively  reserved  to  the  high-pontiff,  and 
to  the  priests :  so  it  is  in  the  Catholic  churches. 
In  the  Pagan  temples  the  sanctuary  was  turned 
towards  the  Orient:  so  it  is  in  the  Catholic 
ehurches. 


54  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

The  Pagans  did  not  permit  their  candidates  to 
initiation  to  assist  at  the  celebration  of  the  mys- 
teries, which  was  always  preceded  by  tins  formula, 
solemnly  and  loudly  spoken  by  an  ofliccr,  "  Away 
from  here  ye  profane  and  impious  men,  and  all 
those  whose  soul  is  contaminated  with  crimes !" 
So  in  Catholic  churches,  not  now,  but  from  the 
first  centuries  down  to  the  middle  age,  the  deacon 
arose  after  the  homily,  turned  toward  the  assist- 
ant, and  ordered  the  catechumens  to  leave  the 
church,  because  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries 
was  to  commence.  Those  mysteries  are  the  mass, 
during  which  the  priest  who  ofliciates  commands 
Jesus  Christ  to  descend  from  heaven  into  a  wafer, 
which  he,  (priest,)  holds  in  his  hands,  and  to  change 
it  into  his  own  blood,  flesh,  soul,  and  divinity.  The 
Pagans  initiated  the  candidates  near  the  front  door 
of  their  temples:  so  in  the  Catholic  churches,  the 
baptismal  fonts  where  the  catechumens  are  in- 
itiated, namely,  baptized,  arc  placed  near  the  por- 
tal. Here  we  shall  remark,  that,  for  many  centu- 
ries, children  are  baptized,  (even  now  parents  arc 
obliged  under  the  pain  of  mortal  sin  to  have  their 
children  taken  to  the  church  to  be  baptized)  three 
days  after  they  are  born.  The  Pagans  initiated 
candidates  chiefly  on  the  eve  of  great  celebrations  : 
so,  in  the  Romish  church,  catechumens  are  bap- 
tized chiefly  on  the  eve  of  Easter,  and  of  Pente- 
cost. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  initiation  made  them 
holy;  so  the  Romish  church  holds  that  .baptism 


OP    MYSTERIES  55 

remits  the  original  and  all  other  sins,  and  makes 
holy.  The  Pagans  revered  in  their  temples  the 
statue  of  Pan,  in  whose  hands  was  a  seven-pipe 
flute;  also,  they  revered  other  emblems  of  the 
seven  planets  :  so  in  the  Romish  Church  holds  the 
doctrine  of  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  seven  sacraments.  In  the 
month  of  February  the  Pagans  celebrated  the 
Lupercales,  and  the  feast  of  Proserpine  :  so  the 
Church  of  Rome  celebrates  the  Candlemas-day. 
We  cite  the  very  words  of  Eergier,  a  Catholic 
priest,  and  an  ultra  Papist,  who  writes  thus  in  his 
Theological  Dictionary ;  article  Candlemas : 

"Several  authors  ascribe  the  institution  of 
Candlemas-day  to  the  pope  Gelase,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  opposing  it  to  the  Lupercales  of  the  Pa- 
gans, who  went  processionally  out  in  the  fields 
making  exorcisms.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  ven- 
erable Bede.  '  The  Church,'  he  says,  '  has  happily 
changed  the  lustrations  of  the  Pagans,  which 
took  place  in  February  around  the  fields.  She 
has  substituted  to  them  processions,  in  which  the 
^ople  carry  in  their  hands  burning  tapers.' 
»Jthers  ascribe  this  institution  to  the  pope  Vigil, 
and  say  that  it  has  been  substituted  to  the  feast 
of  Proserpine,  which  the  Pagans  celebrated  in  the 
first  days  of  February  with  torches.' 

The  Pagans  worshipped  Juno  as  the  wife  of 
the  god  Jupiter :  so  the  Church  of  Rome  worships 
the  virgin  Mary  as  the  wife  of  God.  The  Pagans 
celebrated  the  exaltation  of  the  vire-o  or  -v^iro-in. 


56  PAGAN   OBIGIN 

the  sixth  sign  and  seventh  constellation  in  the 
ecliptic;  so  the  Romish  Church  has  established 
the  feast  of  Assumption,  namely,  of  the  ascension 
of  the  virgin  Mary  to  heaven.  The  Pagans  made 
solemn  processions  to  honor  the  goddess  Ceres;- 
60  the  Romish  Church  has  instituted  pompous 
processions  in  the  honor  of  the  virgin  Marj^ 

Remark. — All  the  above  institutions  and  doc- 
trines of  the  Romish  Church,  and  also  those 
which  we  shall  examine  in  the  following  chapters, 
date  from  the  first  centuries.  All  the  Catholic 
doctors,  theologians,  and  historians,  confess  it. 

From  the  numerous  and  undeniable  historical 
facts  summed  np  in  this  chapter  we  legitimately 
draw  the  conclusions,  1st.  That,  in  the  first  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era,  the  Church  of  Rome 
established  mysteries;  2d.  That  the  Church  of 
Rome  borrowed  her  mysteries  from  the  mysteries 
of  the  Pagans;  and,  3d.  That  a  law  of  secrecy 
was  binding  the  catechumens  after  their  initiation, 
though  this  law  was  not  so  stringent  as  it  was 
among  the  Pagans. 

Wlien,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Protestants 
shook  the  yoke  of  the  Pope,  they  rejected  many 
of  the  mysteries  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  however, 
they  kept  several  of  them,  such  as  the  mystery  of 
Trinity,  namely,  of  three  Gods  composing  but  one 
God;  the  mystery  of  incarnation,  namely  of  God 
himself  descending  from  the  heavens,  vesting  our 
mortal  clay  in  the  womb  of  a  woman  for  the 
purpose  of  being  -'persecuted  and  slain  on  a  cross 


OF    MYSTERIES.  57 

by  men,  thus  pay  to  himself  the  debt  owed  to 
him  by  men  who  had  disobeyed  him,  (though 
they  did  not  Hve  yet,)  in  the  person  of  Adam. 
These,  we  say,  and  other  mysteries  of  the  Romish 
Church,  the  Protestants  or  Heterodox  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  Cathohcs,  preserved  and  transmitted 
them  to  their  sons,  or  Partiahsts,  who  now  call 
the  Roman  Catholics  heathens;  call  the  liberal 
Christian  Churches  heterodox,  and  caU  themselves 
most  emphatically  Evangelical  Churches,  Orthodox 
Churches. 

The  final  and  strictly  logical  conclusion  of  this 
chapter  is  this : 

Therefore  the  mysteries  of  the  Romish  Church,  and 
those  of  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant  Churches, 
are  of  Pagan  origin. 

Corollary.  Since  mysteries  are  of  Pagan  origin, 
and  since  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  not 
establish  mysteries,  there  ought  not  to  be  myster- 
ies in  Christianity.  Since  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles  preached  the  Gospel  in  open  air  to  all, 
everywhere,  there  cannot  be  any  mysteries  in  their 
teaching,  and  there  cannot  be  any  mysteries  in 
their  writings,  we  mean  in  the  Kew  Testament. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  A  PERSONAL  DEVIL. 

The  celebrated  Plutarch,  historian,  philosopher, 
and  priest  of  Apollo,  in  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  thus  writes :  "  We  ought  not  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Principles  of  the  universe  are  not 
animated,  as  Democrite  and  Epicure  thought; 
nor  that  an  inert  matter  be  organized,  and  or- 
dained by  a  Providence  that  disposes  of  all,  as  the 
Stoicians  taught.  It  is  impossible  that  one  sole 
being,  either  good  or  bad,  be  the  author  of  all,  for 
God  can  cause  no  evil.  The  harmony  of  the 
world  is  a  combination  of  contraries  like  the 
strings  of  a  lyre,  or  like  the  string  of  a  bow  capa- 
ble of  being  bent  and  unbent.  In  no  case,  the 
poet  Euripedes  says,  good  is  separated  from  evil : 
there  must  be  a  mixture  of  the  one  and  of  the 
other.  This  opinion  is  of  immemorial  antiquity, 
and  has  been  held  by  theologians,  legislators,  poets, 
and  philosophers.  Its  inventor  is  unknown,  but 
it  is  verified  by  the  traditions  of  mankind;  it  is 
consecrated  by  mysteries  and  sacrifices  among  the 
Barbarians,  as  well  as  among  the  Greeks.  They 
all  acknowledge  the  dogma  of  two  opposite  Prin- 
(58)' 


PAGAN   ORIGIN   OF   A  PERSONAL   DEVIL.  59 

ciples  in  nature,  who,  by  their  opposition,  produce 
the  mixture  of  good  and  evil. 

"  Therefore  it  may  not  be  said,  that  a  single  dis- 
penser draws  events  like  a  liquor  from  two  casks 
to  mix  them  together ;  for  this  mixture  is  found 
in  all  the  phenomena  of  nature.  We  must  admit 
two  opposite  causes,  two  contrary  powers,  bearing 
the  one  to  the  right,  and  the  other  to  the  left;  and 
who  thus  govern  our  life  and  the  whole  sublunar 
world,  which  for  this  reason  is  subject  to  all  the 
irregularities  and  vicissitudes  we  witness,  for 
nothing  is  done  without  a  cause.  As  the  good 
cannot  produce  evil,  then  there  is  a  principle 
causing  evil,  as  one  causing  good." 

We  see  by  this  passage  of  Plutarch,  that  the 
true  origin  of  two  Principles  proceeds  from  the 
difficulty  which  men,  in  all  times,  found  in  ex- 
plaining, by  one  sole  cause,  good  and  evil  in  nature, 
and  in  making  flow  from  one  sole  spring,  virtue 
and  crime,  light  and  darkness.  "This  dogma," 
Plutarch  adds,  "  has  been  admitted  by  nearly  all 
nations,  and  more  especially  by  those  renowned 
by  their  wisdom.  They  believed  in  two  gods  of 
difterent  trade,  if  I  may  say  so,  who  caused,  the 
one  good,  and  the  other  e^'il.  They  called  the 
first  God  by  excellence,  and  the  second  Demon." 

In  fact  the  Persians,  disciples  of  Zoroaster  ad- 
mitted, and  even  in  our  days,  the  Parsis,  their 
successors,  admit  two  principles,  the  one  called 
Oromaze,  and  the  other  Ahriman.  Plutarch  snys: 
"  The  Persians  believed  that  the  first  was  of  the 


60  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

nature  of  light,  and  tlie  second  of  that  of  dark- 
ness. Among  the  Egyptians  the  first  was  called 
Osiris,  and  the  second  Typhon,  eternal  foe  to  the 
first." 

All  the  sacred  books  of  the  Persians,  and  of  the 
Egyptians,  contain  the  marvellous  and  allegorical 
recital  of  the  various  combats  given  by  Ahriman 
and  his  angels  to  Oromaze,  and  by  Typhon  to 
Osiris.  These  fables  have  been  rehearsed  by  the 
Greeks  in  the  war  of  the  Titans  against  the 
Giants,  against  Juj)iter,  or  Principle  of  good  and 
light;  for  Jupiter,  Plutarch  remarks,  was  the  Oro- 
maze of  the  Persians,  and  the  Osiris  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. 

To  these  examples  quoted  by  Plutarch,  and  which 
he  extracted  from  the  Theogony  of  the  Persians, 
of  the  Egyptians,  of  the  Greeks,  and  of  the  Chal- 
deans, we  shall  add  others,  which  are  living  yet, 
at  least  the  most  of  them.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
kingdom  of  Pegu  admit  two  Principles;  the  one 
author  of  good,  and  the  other  of  evil.  They 
particularly  endeavor  to  obtain  the  favor  of  the 
latter.  The  Indians  of  Java  acknowledge  a  chief 
supreme  of  the  universe,  and  address  offerings 
and  prayers  to  the  evil  genius  lest  he  harm  them. 
The  Indians  of  the  Moluc  and  Philippine  islands 
do  the  same.  The  natives  of  the  island  of  For- 
mose  worshipped  a  good  god,  Ishy,  and  demons, 
Chouy;  they  sacrifice  to  the  latter,  but  seldom  to 
the  former. 

The  negroes  of  the  Cote-d'or  admit  two  Gods, 


OF    A    PERSONAL   DEVIL.  61 

the  one  good,  and  tlie  other  bad ;  the  one  Avhite, 
and  the  other  black  and  evil.  They  do  not  adore 
the  former  often,  whereas  they  try  to  appease  the 
latter  with  prayers  and  sacrifices  ;  the  Portuguese 
have  named  him  Demon.  The  Hottentots  call  the 
good  Principle  the  Captain  of  above,  and  the  bad 
principle  the  Captain  of  below.  The  ancients  be- 
lieved that  the  source  of  evil  was  in  the  underneath 
matter  of  the  earth.  The  Giants  and  Typhon 
were  sons  of  the  Earth.  The  Hottentots  say,  that, 
whether  the  good  Principle  is  prayed  to  or  not  he 
does  good ;  whereas  it  is  necessary  to  pra}^  to  the 
evil  Principle,  lest  he  might  do  harm.  They  call 
the  bad  god  Touquoa,  and  represent  him  small, 
crooked,  irritable,  a  foe  to  them;  and  they  say 
that  from  him  all  evils  flow  to  this  world. 

The  natives  of  Madagascar  believe  in  two  Prin- 
ciples. They  ascribe  to  the  bad  one  tlie  form  and 
badness  of  a  serpent,  they  call  him  Ang'at:  they 
name  the  good  one  Jadliar,  which  means  great, 
omnipotent  God.  They  rear  no  temple  to  the  lat- 
ter because  he  is  good.  The  Mingrelians  more 
particularly  honor  the  one  of  their  idols,  which 
they  think  to  be  the  most  cruel.  The  Indians  of 
the  island  of  Tenerifle  believe  in  a  supreme  God, 
whom  they  call  Achguaya-Xerax,  which  means 
the  greatest,  the  most  sublime,  the  preserver  of  all 
things.  Also  they  admit  an  evil  genius  named 
Guyotta. 

The  Scandinaves  have  their  god  Locke,  who 
wars  against  the  gods,   and  particularly  against 


62  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Thor.  He  is  the  slanderer  of  the  gods,  Edda  says, 
the  great  forger  of  deceit.  His  spirit  is  evil;  he 
engendered  three  monsters ;  the  wolf  Feiiris,  the 
serpent  Midgaj-d,  and  Hela,  or  death.  He  causes 
the  earthquakes.  The  Tsouvaches  and  the  Mor- 
duans  recognize  a  supreme  being,  who  gave  men 
all  the  blessings  they  enjoy.  They  also  admit  evil 
spirits  whose  occupation  is  to  injure  mankind. 

The  Tartars  of  Katzchiuzi  adore  a  benevolent 
god,  in  kneeling  towards  the  Orient;  but  they  fear 
another  god.  Toils,  to  whom  they  pray  to  disarm 
his  wrath;  and  to  whom,  in  the  spring,  they  sacri- 
fice a  stallion.  The  Ostiaks  and  the  Vogouls  name 
that  evil  god  Koul;  the  Samoyedes  name  him 
Sjoudibe;  the  Motores,  Huala;  the  Kargasses, 
Sedkyr.  The  Thibetans  admit  evil  spirits  which 
they  place  in  the  regions  above.  The  religion  of 
the  Bonzes  supposes  two  Principles.  The  Siam- 
oeses  sacrifice  to  an  evil  spirit,  whom  they  consider 
as  being  the  cause  of  all  the  misfortunes  of  man- 
kind. 

The  Indians  have  their  Ganga  and  their  Gour- 
natha,  spirits  whom  they  try  to  appease  with  pray- 
er, sacrifices,  and  processions.  The  inhabitants  of 
Tolgony,  India,  believe  that  two  Principles  govern 
the  universe;  the  one  good,  he  is  light;  and  the 
other  bad,  he  is  darkness.  The  ancient  Assyrians, 
as  well  as  the  Persians,  admitted  two  Principles ; 
and  they  honored,  Augustine  says,  two  gods,  the 
one  good,  and  the  other  bad.  The  Chaldeans  also 
had  their  good  and  bad  stars,  animated  by  geniuses 
or  intelligences  also  good  and  bad. 


OF    A    PERSONAL   DEVIL.  63 

111  America  the  dogma  of  two  Principles,  and  of 
good  and  bad  spirits,  is  also  found.  The  Peru- 
vians revered  Pacha-Camac  as  being  a  good  god, 
and  Cupa'i  as  being  a  bad  god.  The  Caraibs  ad- 
mitted two  sorts  of  spirits;  the  one  benevolent, 
who  dwell  in  the  heaven ;  and  the  other  evil,  who 
hover  over  us  to  lead  ns  to  temptation.  The  former, 
on  the  contrary,  invite  us  to  do  good,  and  each  of 
us  is  guarded  by  one  of  them.  Those  of  Terra- 
Pirma  think  that  there  is  a  god  in  the  heaven, 
namely,  the  sun.  Besides  they  admit  a  bad  Prin- 
ciple, who  is  the  author  of  all  evils;  they  present 
him  with  flowers,  fruits,  corn,  and  perfumes.  The 
Tapayas,  situated  in  America  by  about  the  same 
latitude  as  the  Madegasses  in  Africa,  believe  also 
in  two  Principles. 

The  natives  of  Brazil  believe  in  a  bad  genius : 
they  call  him  Aguyan;  and  they  have  conjurors 
who  can,  they  say,  divert  his  wrath.  The  Indians 
of  Florida  and  of  Louisiana  adored  the  sun,  the 
moon,  and  the  stars.  They  also  believed  in  an 
evil  spirit  named  Toia.  The  Canadians,  and  the 
savage  tribes  of  the  Bay  of  Hudson,  revered  the 
sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  and  the  thunder;  but 
they  more  particularly  prayed  to  the  evil  spirits. 
The  Esquimaux  believe  in  a  god  supremely  good, 
whom  they  call  Ukouma,  and  in  another,  Ouikan, 
who  is  the  author  of  all  evils;  who  causes  the 
tempests,  and  who  capsizes  the  boats.  The  sava- 
ges of  the  strait  of  Davis  believe  in  beneficent  and 
malignant  spirits. 


64  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

Tliis  distinction  of  two  Principles,  of  a  god,  and 
of  geniuses  or  spirits,  authors  of  good  and  light; 
and  of  a  god  and  geniuses,  authors  of  evil  and 
darkness,  is  immemorial.  This  opinion  has  been 
so  universally  adopted  for  the  only  reason,  that 
those  who  observed  the  opposite  phenomena  of 
nature  could  not  account  for  them,  and  could  not 
reconcile  them  with  the  existence  of  a  single  cause. 
As  there  are  good  and  bad  men,  they  believed  that 
there  were  good  and  bad  gods,  the  ones  dispensers 
of  good,  and  the  others  authors  of  evil. 

Such  was  the  universal  belief  when  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  the  world.  The  Jews  themselves,  since 
the  captivity  of  Babylon,  generally  believed  in 
those  two  Principles.  They  went  so  far  as  to 
immolate  their  own  children  on  the  altars  of  evil 
deities,  in  order  to  appease  them.  Jesus  preached 
his  Gospel,  died,  and  left  on  earth  his  apostles  with 
the  trust  of  continuing,  among  men,  his  saving 
mission.  As  in  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists 
the  word  demon,  or  devil,  was  used  figuratively, 
meaning  lust,  wrong  desire,  etc.,  some  of  the  first 
Christians  understood  the  true  sense  of  these  figur- 
ative words,  and  others  did  not.  In  the  third  cen- 
tury the  Church  of  Rome,  which  had  been  tend- 
ing to  supremacy  over  other  churches,  and  which, 
from  policy,  to  gain  more  adepts,  was  compromis- 
ing with  Paganism,  understood  the  word  demon, 
or  devil,  litei'ally,  and  preserved  the  heathen  doc- 
trine, which,  as  she  grew,  became  widely  spread, 
and  afterwards  an  article  of  faith. 


OF    A    PERSONAL   DEVIL.  65 

The  Fathers  of  the  Church,  of  that  age,  believed 
that  the  demons,  or  devils,  were  innumerable; 
that  their  chief,  Lucifer,  had  entrusted  a  demon  to 
accompany  each  man  through  life,  to  tempt  him 
to  sin ;  that  Lucifer  had  as  many  bad  angels,  or 
demons,  under  his  command,  as  God  had  good 
angels;  that  all  those  demons  were  corporeal,  and 
that  those  male  committed  fornication  and  adul- 
tery with  the  daughters  of  men;  and  those  female 
with  the  sons  of  men  ;  that  they  had  generated  the 
giants;  and  that  they  had  incited  the  oppressors 
of  the  Christians  to  persecute  them.  Thus  thought 
Justin,  Tatian,  Minutius-Felix,  Athenagoras,  Ter- 
tullian,  Julius-Firmicus,  Origen,  Synesius,  Arnobe, 
St.  Gregory  of  ISTazianze,  Lactauce,  St.  Jerome, 
St.  Augustine,  etc.,  as  seen  in  their  works  in 
either  edition  of  the  Benedictines,  or  of  the  canon 
Caillot,  of  Migne,  a  priest,  now  editor  in  Paris. 
Even  in  our  days  the  most  of  the  superstitious 
practices  of  the  Pagans,  in  regard  to  evil  spirits, 
are  preserved  in  the  Papal  Church, — conjurations, 
exorcisms,  Agnus  Dei,  holy  water,  etc.,  and  others 
which  they  have  added,  such  as  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  the  expulsion  of  the  devil  from  houses, 
barns,  wells,  wagons,  beasts,  fields,  etc.  These 
ceremonies  are  oftentimes  performed,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  for  money. 

The  same  took  place  in  the  Church  of  E,ome  in 

reference  to  the  heathen  dogma  of  good  angels 

being  under  the  command  of  the  good  spirit,  or 

God ;  this  dogma  was  generally  believed  even  by 

6 


6Q  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

the  Jews,  at  least  since  the  captivity  of  Babylon. 
We  say  generally,  because  the  Sadduceans  did  not 
believe  it ;  and  perhaps,  also,  the  Samaritans  and 
the  Caraites,  for  we  have  but  two  testimonies  that 
prove  they  partook  of  the  opinion  of  the  Samari- 
tans on  tliis  point,  namely,  the  testimony  of  Abn- 
sa'id,  author  of  an  Arabic  version  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  that  of  Aaron,  in  his  commentaries  of 
the  same.  The  Papal  Church  holds  still  that  the 
angels  form  three  hierarchies,  or  choirs.  The  first 
is  that  of  the  Seraphims,  Cherubims,  and  thrones; 
the  second  comprises  the  dominations,  the  virtues, 
and  the  powers ;  and  the  third  is  composed  of  the 
principalities,  of  the  archangels,  and  of  the  angels. 
One  of  these  angels,  called  guardian,  is  obliged  to 
stand  by  each  one  of  us  all  the  days  of  our  life. 
Temples,  altars,  prayers  and  sacrifices  are  offered 
to  them. 

TertuUian,  Origen,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  etc., 
thought  that  the  bodies  of  the  good  angels  were 
formed  of  a  very  thin,  subtle  matter.  Other  Fath- 
ers, Basile,  Athanase,  Cyrille,  Gregory  of  ITysse, 
John-Chrysostomus,  etc.,  considered  them  as  spir- 
itual beings ;  however,  they  believed  that  they  may 
take  a  body  when  they  please.  The  Church  of 
Rome  holds,  as  an  article  of  faith,  that  the  good 
angels  ought  to  be  adored. 

As  seen  above,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  pre- 
served, with  a  very  slight  modification,  if  any,  the 
heathen  dogma  of  two  Principles,  the  one  good, 
God;  and  the  other  bad,  Lucifer,  or  the  devil;  also 


Un'    A    PERSONAL   DEVIL.  67 

the  nomenclature  of  geniuses,  or  spirits,  or  angels, 
which  are,  the  ones  under  the  command  of  God, 
and  the  others  under  the  command  of  Lucifer. 
"When,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Protestants 
parted  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  cut  off 
many  branches  of  this  dogma;  but  they  kept  its 
body,  namely,  instead  of  understanding  the  words 
demon,  or  devil,  as  meaning  lust,  abuse  of  free 
agency,  wrong  desire,  etc.,  they  understood  them 
of  personal  beings,  either  material  or  immaterial, 
but  existing,  tempting  each  man  to  sin ;  and  re- 
lentlessly seeking  the  ruin  of  mankind. 

Therefore  the  doctrine  of  a  Personal  Devil  is  of 
Pagan  origin. 


CHAPTER    1\. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  ORIGINAL  SIN. 

The  Roman  Catholic  writers  are  unanimous  in 
the  opinion  that  it  was  the  Lohef  of  a  kirge  num- 
ber of  Pagans  that  man  had  fallen  from  a  higher 
state  of  existence.  St.  Augustine,  more  especially, 
lengthily  and  emphatically  insists  upon  the  general 
belief  of  the  Pagans  in  original  sin,  when  he  writes 
against  Pelage.  However,  we  shall  bring  forth 
other  testimonies,  which  will  not  leave,  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader,  any  doubt  that  the  Pagans 
generally  believed  in  original  sin. 

Cicero,  in  his  work  De  Republica,  book  third, 
after  painting  the  grandeur  of  the  human  nature, 
and  then  contrasting  its  subjection  to  miseries,  to 
diseases,  to  sorrow,  to  fear,  and  to  the  most  de- 
grading passions,  was  at  a  loss  to  define  man.  He 
called  him  a  soul  in  7'uins.  It  was  for  the  same 
reason  that,  in  Plato,  Socrates  reminds  to  his  disci- 
ples that  those  who  had  established  mysteries,  and 
who,  he  said,  were  not  to  be  despised,  taught  that 
according  to  their  ancestors,  any  one  who  dies 
without  having  been  purified  is  plunged  into  the 
mire  of  the  Tartarus;  whereas,  ho  who  has  been 
(68) 


PAGiiN   ORIGIN   OF   ORIGINAL   SIN.  69 

purified  dwells  witli  the  gods.  Clemeut  of  Alex- 
andria, iu  his  Stromata,  book  third,  writes,  that, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  PhilolaUs,  the 
Pythagorician,  all  the  ancient  theologians  and 
poets  said  that  the  soul  was  buried  in  the  body,  as 
in  a  grave,  as  a  punishment  for  some  sin.  It  was 
also  the  doctrine  of  the  Orphics,  as  can  be  seen  in 
Plat.,  Cratyl.,  Opera,  tome  third. 

In  the  pages  48,  50,  and  51,  of  the  treatise  of 
Plutarch,  on  the  Delays  of  Divine  Justice,  we  read: 
"A  State,  for  instance,  is  one  same  thing  continued, 
a  whole,  alike  to  an  animal  which  is  ever  the  same, 
and  the  age  thereof  does  not  change  the  identity. 
The  State  then  being  one,  as  long  as  the  associa- 
tion maintains  the  unity,  the  merit  and  the  de- 
merit, the  reward  and  the  punishment  for  all  that 
is  done  in  common  are  justly  ascribed  to  it,  as  they 
are  to  a  single  individual.  But  if  a  State  is  to  be 
considered  in  this  point  of  view,  it  ought  to  be  the 
same  with  a  family  proceeding  from  the  same  stock, 
from  which  it  holds  I  do  not  know  what  sort  of 
hidden  strength ;  I  do  not  know  what  sort  of  com- 
munication of  essence  and  qualities,  which  extend 
to  all  the  individuals  of  the  race.  Beings  produced 
through  the  medium  of  generation  are  not  similar 
to  the  productions  of  arts.  In  regard  to  the  latter, 
when  the  work  is  completed  it  is  immediately 
separated  from  the  hand  of  the  workman,  and  it 
no  longer  belongs  to  him:  true  it  is  done  by  him, 
but  not  from  him.  On  the  contrary,  what  is  en- 
gendered proceeds  from  the  substance  itself  of  the 


TO  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

generating  being ;  so  tliat  it  holds  from  him  some- 
thing which  is  justly  rewarded  or  punished  in  his 
stead,  for  that  something  is  himself." 

According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Persians, 
Meshia  and  Meshiane,  or  the  first  man  and  first 
woman,  were  first  pure,  and  submitted  to  Ormuzd, 
their  maker.  Ahriman  saw  them  and  envied 
their  happiness.  He  approached  them  under  the 
form  of  a  serpent,  presented  fruits  to  them,  and 
persuaded  them  that  he  was  the  maker  of  man, 
of  animals,  of  plants,  and  of  the  beautiful  universe 
in  which  they  dwelled.  They  believed  it;  and 
since  that  Ahriman  was  their  master.  Their  na- 
ture became  corrupt,  and  this  corruption  infected 
their  whole  posterity.  This  we  find  in  Vendidat- 
Sade,  pages  305,  and  428. 

Thus  sin  does  not  originate  from  Ormuzd ;  but, 
Zoroaster  says,  from  the  being  hidden  in  crime. 
This  testimony  is  found  in  the  Exposition  of  the 
Theological  System  of  the  Persians,  extracted 
from  the  books  Zends,  Pehlvis,  and  Parsis,  by 
Anquetil  du  Perron.  The  following  passage, 
"  There  are  stains  brought  by  man  when  he  comes 
to  life,"  is  found  in  the  69th  tome  of  the  Memoirs 
of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions. 

"We  read  in  the  Ezour-Vedam,  book  1,  chapter 
4,  tome  1,  pages  201  and  202  :  "  God  never  cre- 
ated vice.  He  cannot  be  its  author;  and  God, 
who  is  holiness  and  wisdom,  can  be  the  author 
but  of  virtue.  He  gave  us  his  law  in  which  he 
prescribes  what  we  ought  to  do.     Sin  is  a  trans- 


OP    ORIGINAL    SIN.  71 

gression  of  tliis  law  by  wliicli  it  is  prohibited.  If 
sin  reigns  •  on  tlie  earth,  we  ourselves  are  its 
authors.  Our  perverse  inclinations  have  induced 
us  to  transgress  the  law  of  God;  hence,  the  first 
sin  which  has  induced  us  to  commit  others."  The 
same  author  in  book  5,  chapter  5,  tome  2,  ac- 
knowledges that  the  first  man  was  created  in  a 
state  of  innocence;  and  that  lie  was  happy  because 
he  controlled  his  passions  and  desires. 

Maurice  in  his  Indiie  Antiquitates,  vol.  6,  page 
53,  proves  that  the  Indians  had  a  knowledge  of 
the  fall  of  the  first  man  and  of  the  first  woman ; 
he  proves  also  that  the  dogma  of  orighial  sin  was 
taught  by  the  Druids.  Voltaire,  on  the  seven^ 
teenth  page  of  his  work.  Additions  to  General 
History,  confesses  that  the  Bramas  beUeved  that 
man  was  fallen  and  degenerated :  "  this  idea,"  he 
adds,  "is  found  among  all  the  ancient  peoples." 

The  Father  Jesuit  Bouchet,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  Avranches,  writes:  "The  gods,"  our 
Indians  say,  "tried  by  all  means  to  obtain  immor- 
tality. After  many  inquiries  and  trials,  they  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  they  could  find  it  in  the  tree 
of  life,  which  was  in  the  Chorcan.  In  fact  they 
succeeded;  and  in  eating  once  in  a  while  of  the 
fruits  of  that  tree,  they  kept  the  precious  treasure 
they  so  much  valued.  A  famous  snake,  named 
Cheiden,  saw  that  the  tree  of  life  had  been  found 
by  the  gods  of  the  second  order.  As  probably  he 
had  been  entrusted  with  guarding  that  tree,  he 
became  so  angry  because  his  vigilance  had  been 


72  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

deceived,  that  lie  immediately  poured  out  an  enor- 
mous quantity  of  poison,  which  spread  over  the 
whole  earth." 

In  the  Ta-Hio,  or  Moral  of  Confucius,  page 
50,  Confucius,  after  saying  that  reason  is  a 
gift  from  heaven,  adds,  "  Concupiscence  has  cor- 
rupted it,  and  it  is  now  mixed  with  many  impuri- 
ties. Therefore  take  oft"  those  impurities  so  that 
it  resume  its  first  luster,  and  all  its  former  perfec- 
tion." The  philosopher  Tchouangse  taught,  in 
conformity  with  the  doctrine  of  King  or  sacred 
books  of  the  Chinese,  "that  in  the  former  state  of 
heaven,  man  was  inly  united  to  the  supreme  rea- 
son; and  that  he  practiced  all  the  works  of  jus- 
tice. The  heart  relished  the  truth.  There  was 
in  man  no  alloy  of  falsity.  Then  the  four  seasons 
of  the  year  were  regular.  ISI'othing  was  injurious 
to  man,  and  man  was  injurious  to  nothing.  Uni- 
versal harmony  reigned  in  all  nature.  But  the 
columns  of  the  firmament  having  been  broken, 
the  earth  was  shaken  in  its  very  foundations. 
Man  having  rebelled  against  the  heavens  the  sys- 
tem of  the  universe  was  deranged ;  evils  and 
crimes  flooded  the  earth."  This  testimony  is  ex- 
tracted from  the  Discourse  of  Ramsey  on  Mythol- 
ogy, pages  146,  and  148. 

M.  de  Humboldt,  in  the  tome  1,  pages  237  and 
274,  and  also  in  the  tome  2,  page  198  of  his 
Views  of  the  Cordilleras  and  of  the  monuments 
of  America,  says,  "  That  the  mother  of  our  flesh ; 
the  serpent  Cihuacohuati,  and  her  are  famous  in 


OF    ORIGINAL    SIN.  73 

the  Mexican  traditions.  Those  traditions  repre- 
sent the  mother  of  our  flesh  fallen  from  her  first 
state  of  innocence  and  happiness."  Voltaire,  in 
Questions  on  Encyclopedia,  says;  "The  fall  of 
man  degenerated  is  the  basis  of  the  theology  of 
all  the  ancient  nations." 

There  were  nearly  among  all  nations  expiatory 
rites,  to  purify  infants  when  they  were  born. 
Usually  this  ceremony  was  done  in  the  day  when 
the  child  was  named,  Macrob  informs  us,  in  his 
Saturn,  book  1,  that  "that  day,  among  the  Ro- 
mans, was  the  ninth  for  the  boys  and  the  eighth 
for  the  girls.  That  day  was  called  lustricus,  be- 
cause of  the  histral  water  used  to  purify  the  new 
born  child."  In  the  Analysis  of  the  Insc.  of  Ro- 
sette, page  145,  we  read  that  the  Egyptians,  the 
Persians,  and  the  Greeks  had  a  similar  practice. 
In  Yucatan  the  new  born  child  was  brought  in 
the  temple,  where  the  priest  poured  on  his  head 
the  waters  destined  to  this  use ;  and  then  he  gave 
him  a  name.  In  the  Canary  islands  the  women 
performed  this  priestly  function.  Caril,  in  his 
American  Letters,  tome  1,  pages  146,  and  147, 
speaks  of  these  ceremonies.  A  law  prescribed 
these  expiatory  rites  among  the  Mexicans. 

M.  de  Humboldt,  Views  of  the  Cordilleras,  and 
of  the  Monuments  of  America,  tome  1,  page 
223,  writes :  "  The  midwife,  in  invoking  the  god 
Ometeuctly,  (the  god  of  celestial  paradise,)  and 
the  goddess  Omecihuatl,  who  live  in  the  abode  of 
the  blessed,  poured  water  on  the  forehead  and  on 
7 


74  PAGAN     ORIOm 

the  breast  of  the  new-born  child.  After  pro- 
nouncing several  prayers,  in  which  water  was  con- 
sidered as  the  symbol  of  the  purification  of  the 
soul,  the  midwife  called  near  her  the  children  who 
had  been  invited  to  give  a  name  to  the  new-born 
child.  In  some  provinces  a  fire  was  kindled  at 
the  same  time,  and  they  did  as  if  really  the  child 
was  passed  through  the  fliame  to  purify  him  both 
with  water  and  fire.  This  ceremony  reminds  the 
practices  whose  origin,  in  Asia,  seems  to  be 
immemorial." 

Likewise,  the  Tliibetans  have  similar  expiatory 
rites:  this  we  find  in  the  thirty-first  page  of  the 
preface  of  the  Thibetan  Alphabet.  We  extract 
the  following  from  the  Works  of  the  Society  of 
Calcutta:  "In  India,  when  a  name  is  given  to  a 
cliild,  his  name  is  written  on  his  forehead,  and  he 
is  plunged  three  times  into  the  water  of  the  river. 
Then  the  Brama  exclaims,  '  0  God,  pure,  one,  in- 
visible and  perfect!  to  thee  we  ofl'er  this  ofi:spring 
of  a  holy  tribe,  anointed  with  an  incorruptible 
oil,  and  purified  with  water.*" 

In  the  mysteries,  the  Hierophant  taught  the 
doctrine  that  our  nature  had  been  corrupted  by  a 
first  sin.  The  sixth  book  of  the  poem  Eneida  is 
nothing  but  a  brilliant  exposition  of  this  doctrine ; 
and  perhaps  antiquity  ofters  nothing  that  proves 
more  the  power  of  tradition  on  the  human  mind, 
than  the  passage  in  w^hich  the  poet,  following 
Eneas  in  the  abode  of  the  dead,  describes  in  mag- 
nificent verses  the   dismal   spectacle  which  first 


OF    ORIGINAL    SIN.  75 

strikes  his  gaze.  If  there  is  any  thing  in  the 
world  that  wakes  up  in  our  mind  the  idea  of  in- 
nocence, assuredly  it  is  a  child  who  has  been  un- 
able neither  to  know  nor  to  commit  sin ;  and  the 
supposition  that  he  is  subject  to  punishment  and 
to  suffering,  is  a  thought  which  our  soul  abhors. 
However,  Virgil,  in  the  6th  book,  verses  426,  and 
429,  places  the  children  dead  when  yet  nursing,  at 
the  entry  of  the  sad  kingdoms,  where  he  repre- 
sents them  iu  a  state  of  pain,  weeping  and  moan- 
ing— vagitus  ingcns.  Why  those  tears,  those 
cries  of  sufferings?  Which  faults  do  those  chil- 
dren, to  whom  their  mothers  had  not  smiled,  ex- 
piate? (Virgil,  Ecloga  4,  verse  62.)  What  has 
inspired  the  poet  with  this  surprising  fiction?  On 
what  does  it  rest?  Whence  does  it  originate,  if 
not  from  the  ancient  belief  that  man  was  born  in 
sin? 

Therefore,  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  was  gen- 
erally believed  by  the  Pagans. 

We  stated,  at  the  commencement  of  this  chap- 
ter, that  the  Roman  Catholic  writers  are  unani- 
mous in  the  opinion  that  it  was  the  belief  of  a 
large  number  of  Pagans,  that  man  had  fallen  from 
a  higher  state  of  existence.  However,  a  small 
number  only  of  the  same  writers  are  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  Jews  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  orig- 
inal sin ;  and  they  find  no  other  proof  of  the  asser- 
tion than  the  ceremony  of  circumcision,  which,  as 
is  familiar  to  all,  was  a  mere  legal  and  national 
observance,  and  had  not  the  virtue  of  remitting 


7^8  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

sin.  In  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era, 
baptism  "svas  considered  as  a  mere  ceremony  for 
initiating  catechumens  to  the  Christian  profes- 
sion. 

It  was  only  towards  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, that  the  belief  of  the  transmission  of  Adam's 
sin  to  all  his  descendants  was  introduced  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  which  already  considered  her- 
self the  mistress  of  the  other  churches.  Soon 
afterwards  the  dogma  that  baptism  had  the  virtue 
of  remitting  original  sin  was  established.  As 
proof  of  these  two  facts,  w^e  have  the  testimony 
of  more  than  twenty-three  Christian  sects  of  the 
first  centuries,  which  did  not  admit  the  dogma  of 
original  sin;  and  did  not  believe  that  baptism  had 
the  virtue  of  remitting  sin.  We  quote  a  few 
of  those  sects :  the  Simonians,  the  ISncola'ites,  the 
Valeutinians,  the  Basilidians,  the  Carpocratians, 
the  Ophites,  the  Sethians,  the  Pelagians,  all  the 
Gnostic  sects,  etc. 

Therefore,  the  Church  of  Eome  borrowed  the 
dogma  of  original  sin  from  the  Pagans.  To  this 
many  Roman  Catholic  writers  say :  true  the  Pa- 
gans held  this  doctrine,  but  we  did  not  borrow  it 
from  them ;  we  found  it  in  the  first  chapters  of 
Genesis.  We  rejoin  that  even  the  fathers  of  the 
fourth  century  did  not  understand  those  chapters 
literally,  and  thereby  as  teaching  the  dogma  of 
original  sin.  St.  Augustine,  in  his  work.  City  of 
God,  avers  that  it  was  a  general  opinion  among 
Christians,  that  the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis 


OF  ORIGINAL   SIN.  77 

are  allegorical,  and  that  he  himself  is  inclined  to 
think  so.  He  confesses  that  it  is  impossible  to 
tal>:e  them  literally  without  hurting  piety,  and 
ascribing  to  God  unworthy  actions.  Origen  says  : 
"Where  is  the  man  of  good  sense,  who  can  ever 
believe  that  there  have  been  a  first,  a  second,  and 
a  third  days,  and  that  those  days  had  each  an 
evening  and  morning,  though  there  were  not  yet 
neither  sun,  nor  moon,  nor  stars?  Where  is  the 
man  credulous  enough  to  believe,  that  God  was 
working  like  a  gardener,  and  that  he  planted  a 
garden  in  Orient;  that  the  tree  of  life  was  a  real 
tree,  whose  fruit  would  preserve  life?" 

Origen  compared  the  temptation  of  Adam  to 
that  of  the  birth  of  Love,  whose  father  was  Porus, 
or  Abundance,  and  whose  mother  was  Poverty, 
lie  adds  that  there  are  in  the  Old  Testament  facts, 
which,  if  understood  literally,  are  absurd,  and 
which,  if  understood  allcgorically,  contain  valua- 
ble truths.  We  refer  the  reader  for  the  above  to 
the  following  works:  See  St.  Augustine,  De 
Civitate  Dei,  liber  xi,  cap.  6,  et  liber  2,  cap,  xi,  ISTo. 
24. — De  Genesi  ad  Litteram,  liber  4,  '^o.  44. — De 
Catechis  Rudibus,  cap.  13.  The  opinion  of  St. 
Athaiiase  can  be  found  in  his  Oratio  Contra 
Arium,  No.  60. — That  of  Origen,  in  his  work  De 
Principiis,  liber  iv,  No.  16,  contra  Celsum,  liber  6, 
No.  50,  51.  That  of  St.  Ambrosius,  in  his  Ilexam, 
liber  one,  cap.  7,  et  Sequentia.  That  of  Theo- 
doret,  in  his  Quest,  in  Genes,  interpr.  cap.  v.  et 
Sequentia,  and  that  of  St.  Gregory  in  his  Moral, 
in  Job,  liber  32,  cap.  9. 


78  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

The  Fathers  and  the  Christian  sects  named 
above,  did  not  take  the  first  three  chapters  of 
Genesis  hterally,  because  it  would  imply  absurdity 
and  blasphemy.  The  idea  of  God,  namely,  of  the 
supreme  and  eternal  cause,  who  clothes  our  clay 
for  the  pleasure  of  walking  in  a  garden;  the  idea 
of  a  woman  conversing  with  a  serpent;  listening 
to  its  counsels  and  heeding  them;  that  of  a  man 
and  a  woman  organized  for  reproduction,  and  yet 
destined  to  be  immortal  on  earth,  and  to  procreate 
a  mathematical  infinity  of  beings,  immortal  like 
themselves,  who  also  will  infinitely  multiply,  and 
will  all  find  their  food  in  the  fruits  of  the  trees  of 
a  garden  where  they  will  all  dwell;  a  fruit  culled 
that  is  to  kill  Adam  and  Eve,  and  to  be  trans- 
mitted as  a  hereditary  crime  to  all  their  descend- 
ants, who  did  not  [)articipate  to  their  disobedience, 
crime  which  will  be  forgiven  only  in  as  much  as 
men  will  conmiit  another  crime,  infinitely  greater, 
a  deicide — if  such  a  crime  might  exist;  the  woman 
who  since  that  time  is  condemned  to  bring  forth 
with  pain,  as  if  the  pains  of  childbirth  were  not 
natural  to  her  organization,  and  were  not  com- 
mon to  her,  as  well  as  to  the  other  animals  which 
have  not  tasted  the  forbidden  fruit ;  the  serpent 
forced  to  crawl,  as  if  a  footless  reptile  could  move 
any  other  way :  so  many  absurdities  and  follies, 
heaped  in  those  first  three  chapters,  they  could 
not  believe  and  ascribe  them  to  God. 

Maimonide,  one  of  the  most  learned  Rabbins  of 
the  Jews,  thus  wrote  in  the  twelfth  cei>tury :  "  We 


OF    ORIGESTAL    SIN.  79 

ouglit  uot  to  understand  literally  \*-liat  is  written 
in  the  books  of  the  creation ;  nor  entertain  about 
the  creation  the  opinions  generally  agreed.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  our  wise  men  urged  upon  us 
to  keep  their  true  teaching  secret,  and  not  to  lift 
up  the  veil  of  allegory  which  conceals  the  truths 
they  contain.  If  taken  literally  the  relation  of 
the  creation  gives  us  the  most  absurd  and  extrav- 
agant ideas  of  the  Deity.  Whoever  will  find  out 
their  true  teaching,  ought  to  keep  it  to  himself; 
this  is  the  earnest  recommendation  of  our  wise 
men,  and  more  especially  in  regard  to  the  first  six 
days.  Those  who  know  ought  to  speak  about 
it  but  obscurely,  as  I  do  myself,  so  as  to  let  their 
hearers  guess  if  they  can." 

The  above  facts  and  proofs  lead  us  to  the  con* 
elusion  that  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  the 
dogma  of  original  sin  from  the  Pagans. 

As  the  Protestants,  who  call  themselves  Ortho- 
dox, borrowed  it  in  the  sixteenth  century  from  the 
Church  of  Rome,  it  follows  that  they  also  hold  it 
from  the  Pagans. 

Therefore^  the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin  is  of  Pagan 
origin. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  TRINITY. 

The  Eoman  Catliolie  writers  tliemselves  confess 
that  the  Pagans  believed  in  Trinity-;  also  the  most 
of  the  self-called  Protestant  Orthodox  historians 
and  authors.  Tlic  neutral  authors  are  unani- 
mous on  this  point.  The  following  facts  and 
proofs  we  shall  impartially  extract  from  those 
three  classes  of  writers: 

The  Egyptians  believed  in  Trinity;  the  Greek 
inscription  of  the  great  Obelisk  of  the  major  cir- 
cus, at  Rome,  reads  thus :  Megas  Theos,  the  great 
god,  Theogentos,  the  begotten  of  god ;  and  Pam- 
phcgges,  the  all-bright,  (Apollo,  the  Spirit.)  Iler- 
aclide,  of  Pont,  and  Porphyre  relate  a  famous 
oracle  of  Serapis:  Prota  Theos,  metepeita  logos, 
kai  j)ii6uma  soun  autois.  Sumphuta  de  tria 
panta,  kai  eis  en  eonta.  [Translation  :]  All  is  God 
in  the  beginning ;  then  the  word  and  the  spirit; 
three  Gods  coengendered  together  and  united  in 
one. 

The  Chaldeans  had  a  sort  of  Trinity  in  their 

Metris,  Oromasis,  and  Araminis,  or  Mithra,  Oro- 

mase  and  Aramine.     The  Chinese  had  also,  and 
(80) 


PAGAN   ORIGIN   OF  A    TRINITY.  81 

still  have,  a  mysterious  Trinity.  Tlie  first  god 
generates  the  second  one,  and  both  generate  the 
third  one.  The  Chinese  say  that  the  great  terra, 
or  great  unity,  contains  three,  one  is  three,  and 
three  are  one.  In  India  Trinity  was  immemorially 
known.  The  Father  Jesuit  Calmet  writes :  "What 
I  have  seen  mostly  surprising  is  a  text  extracted 
from  Lamaastambam,  one  of  the  books  of  the  In- 
dians  It  begins  thus :    The  Lord,  the  good, 

the  great  God,  in  his  mouth  is  the  \vord.  (The 
term  which  they  use  personifies  the  word.)  Then 
it  speaks  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  these  words :  Yen- 
tus  seu  spiritus  perfectus ;  [translation]  breath  or 
perfect  spirit, — and  it  ends  by  the  creation,  ascrib- 
ing it  to  God  alone." 

The  Jesuit  Calmet  says,  writing  about  the  Thi- 
betans: "  I  learned  the  following  about  their  reh- 
gion.  They  call  God  Konciosa,  and  they  seem  to 
have  some  idea  of  the  adorable  Trinity ;  for  they 
call  God  sometimes  Konsikosick,  God-one,  and  at 
other  times  Kocioksum,  God-three.  They  use  a 
kind  of  bead  on  which  they  pronounce  these 
words :  oiti,  ha,  hum.  When  they  are  asked  the 
explanation,  they  answer  that  om  signifies  the  in- 
telligence, or  arm,  namely  power ;  that  ha  is  the 
word ;  that  hum  is  the  heart  or  love,  and  that  these 
three  words  signify  God." 

The  Father  Bouchet,  a  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionary in  India,  wrote  the  following  to  the  bishop 
of  Avranches :  "  I  commence  by  the  confused  idea 
which  the  Indians  preserve  about  the  adorable 


82  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Trinity.  My  Lord,  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  the 
three  principal  deities  of  the  Indians,  Bruma, 
Wishnou,  and  Routren.  The  greater  portion  of 
the  people  say,  it  is  true,  that  they  are  three  differ- 
ent gods,  and  really  separate.  But  several  Niauig- 
neuls,  or  spiritual  men,  assure  that  these  three 
gods,  apparently  distinct,  compose  in  reality  but 
one  god:  that  this  god  is  called  Bruma,  when  he 
creates  and  exercises  his  all-power;  that  he  is 
called  Wishnou,  when  he  preserves  the  created 
beings,  and  does  them  good;  and  that,  linall}^,  he 
takes  the  name  of  Routren,  when  he  destroj'^s  tlie 
cities,  chastises  the  wicked,  and  makes  men  feel 
his  just  anger." 

Eughsh  missionaries  have  found  at  Otaiti  some 
traces  of  the  Trinity  among  the  religious  dogmas 
of  tlie  natives. 

Plato  refers  to  this  doctrine  in  several  passages 
of  his  works.  "Xot  on!}","  says  Dacier  in  his 
translation,  "  it  is  believed  that  he  knew  about  the 
Word,  eternal  Son  of  God ;  but  also  that  he  knew 
about  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  he  thus  writes  to  the 
young  Denis: 

" '  I  must  declare  to  Archedemus  what  is  much 
more  precious  and  more  divine,  and  which  you  so 
eagerly  desire  to  know ;  for  you  sent  him  to  me 
for  this  express  purpose.  According  to  what  he 
told  me,  you  think  that  I  have  not  sufficiently  ex- 
plained to  you  my  opinion  about  the  first  Princi- 
ple, therefore  I  shall  write  it  to  you,  enigmatically, 
however,  in  order  that,  if  my  epistle  is  intercepted 


OF    A    TRINITY.  83 

at  sea  or  on  land,  he  who  will  read  it  will  be  un- 
able to  understand  it.  All  things  are  around  their 
king ;  they  exist  through  him,  and  he  is  the  only 
cause  of  good  things,  second  for  the  second  things, 
and  third  for  the  third  things.' 

"In  the  Epinomis,"  continues  Dacier,  "Plato 
establishes-as  Principle,  the  first  good,  the  Word, 
or  intelligence  and  the  soul.  The  first  good  is 
God ;  .  .  .  .  the  Word,  or  intelligence,  is  the  son 
of  this  first  good,  who  begets  him  similar  to  him- 
self; and  the  soul,  which  is  the  term  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  is  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Plato  had  borrowed  this  doctrine  about  Trinity 
from  Timee  of  Locre,  who  held  it  from  the  Italian 
philosophical  school.  Marsilo  Ficin,  in  one  of  his 
remarks  on  Plato,  shows  from  the  testimonies  of 
Jamblic,  Porphyre,  Plato  and  Maxim  of  Tyr,  that 
the  Pythagoricians  knew  also  the  excellence  of  the 
Ternary;  Pj'thagoras  himself  indicated  it  in  this 
sj'mbol:  Protima  to  Schema,  kai  Bema,  kai  Trio- 
bolon.  The  Jesuit  Kirker,  dissenting  about  the 
unity  and  trinity  of  the  first  Principle,  traces  ves- 
tiges of  the  doctrine  of  Trinity  up  to  Pythagoras, 
and  to  the  Egyptians. 

St.  Augustine  himself,  though  the  staunchest 
defender  of  the  dogma  of  Trinity,  confessed  that, 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a  Trinity, 
nearly  similar  to  the  one  he  believed  in,  had  been 
held.  He  added  that  the  Pythagoricians,  the  Pla- 
tonicians,  and  that  a  great  number  of  Atlantes, 
Lybian,   Egyptian,   Persian,  Chaldean,  Scythian, 


84  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Gallenses,  and  Hibernian  philosophers,  held  several 
dogmas  about  the  unity  of  the  God,  Light,  and 
Good,  in  common  with  the  Church  of  Eome. 

Macrobe  gives  us  a  summary  of  ancient  or  Pla- 
tonician  theology,  which  coiitains  a  true  Trinity, 
of  which  that  of  the  Papists  and  of  the  self-called 
Protestant  Orthodox  is  but  a  copy.  According  to 
this  summary,  the  world  has  been  formed  by  the 
universal  soul:  this  soul  is  the  same  as  their  spirit- 
us,  or  spirit.  They  also  call  the  Holy  Spirit  Crea- 
tor: <'Veni  Creator  spiritus,"  etc.,  [translation,] 
Come  Spirit  Creator,  etc.,  (Catholic  hymn.)  Ma- 
crobe adds,  that  from  this  spirit  or  soul  the  intelli- 
gence, which  he  calls  men's  proceeds.  Is  this  not 
the  Father,  the  Son,  or  wisdom,  and  the  Spirit 
that  creates  and  vivifies  all?  Even  is  not  the  ex- 
pression to  ])roceed  common  to  the  ancient  and  to 
the  Papist  and  Protestant  Orthodox  Churches  in 
the  filiation  of  the  first  three  beings? 

Macrobe  goes  farther.  He  recals  the  three  Prin- 
ciples to  a  primitive  unit,  who  is  the  sovereign 
God.  After  resting  his  theory  on  this  Trinity  he 
adds:  "  You  see  how  this  unit,  or  original  nionade 
of  the  first  cause,  is  preserved  entire  and  indivisi- 
ble up  to  the  soul,  or  spirit,  which  animates  the 
world."  This  testimony  of  Macrobe  has  so  much 
more  bearing,  that  he  wrote  in  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century ;  that  he  was  the  first  Chamber- 
lain of  the  emperor  Theodose,  and  was  the  most 
learned  antiquarian  of  that  age. 

Another  most  important  fact  we  shall  record. 


OP    A    TRINITY.  85 

It  is  beyond  any  doubt  that  before  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ  the  Jews  did  not  hold  the  dosma  of 
Trinity,  nor  do  they  now.  Their  Rabbins,  and  all 
the  Roman  Catholic  theologians,  agree  on  this 
point. 

During  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era  the  dogma  of  Trinity  was  not  generally  be- 
lieved. The  Simonians,  the  Kicholaites,  the  Val- 
entinians,  the  Basilidians,  the  Carpocratians,  the 
Ophites,  the  Sethians,  all  the  Gnostics,  and  many 
other  Christian  sects  rejected  it.  It  was  only  in 
the  fourth  century,  that  Arius  and  the  above 
sects  were  condemned  in  the  council  of  Wice,  be- 
cause they  denied  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  council  was  assembled  by  the  order  of  the 
emperor  Constantine  I.,  who  was  urged  to  it  by 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  (or  Pope,)  whose  Church  held 
the  dogma  of  Trinity.  As  a  matter  of  course  the 
Ijishops  of  the  council  had  to  decide  according  to 
the  will  of  those  two  leaders;  for  Constantine 
threatened  them  with  deposition  and  exile :  in 
fact  he  banished  Arius,  and  deposed  seventeen 
bishops,  who  did  not  subscribe  to  the  decision  of 
the  council. 

The  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God 
himself  was  so  generally  spread,  and  so  deeply 
rooted  in  the  minds,  that  several  successors  of 
Constantine  I.  embraced  Arianism;  and  it  was 
only  after  centuries  that  Arianism,  which  was 
spread  nearly  all  over  the  East,  was  crushed  by 
the  papal  and  the  imperial  power.]' 


86  PAGAN  ORIGIN   OF   A    TRINITY. 

Now  let  US  draw  our  conclusions.  Since  the 
Jews  had  no  knowledge  of  the  dogma  of  Trinity, 
the  Church  of  Rome  could  not  borrow  it  from 
them;  since  the  generality  of  the  Christian  sects 
during  the  first  three  centuries  did  not  believe  in 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Church  of  Rome 
did  not  find  the  dogma  of  Trinity  in  the  Gospel ; 
(besides,  the  Catholic  theologians  never  pretended 
that  the  Scriptures  teach  it — they  simply  pretend- 
ed, and  still  pretend,  that  it  was  a  tradition.)  Since 
the  dogma  of  Trinity  was  believed  by  many  Pagan 
sects,  then  the  Roman  Church  borrowed  it  from 
them. 

In  turns,  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant 
Churches  borrowed  this  doctrine  from  the  Church 
of  Rome,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Therefore  the  doctrine  of  Trinity  is  of  Pagan  origin. 


CHAPTEE    VI. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  SUPREME 
DIVINITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

It  will  be  demonstrated  that  tlie  doctrine  of  the 
supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  of  Pagan  ori- 
gin, if  it  can  be  proved,  Ist,  That  the  Church  of 
Rome,  from  which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protes- 
tant Churches  borrowed  this  doctrine,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  2d,  That  the  Church  of 
Rome  uses,  in  her  adoration  to  Jesus  Christ,  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  a  striking  similarity  with  those 
used  by  the  Pagans,  in  their  adoration  to  the  sun, 
under  the  names  of  Bacchus,  Hercules,  Osiris, 
Mithra,  Atys,  etc. 

But  it  can  be  proved,  1st,  That  the  Church  of 
Rome,  from  which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protes- 
tant Churches,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  borrowed 
the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  and,  2d,  That  the  Church  of  Rome  uses, 
in  her  adoration  to  Jesus  Christ,  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies of  a  striking  similarity  with  those  used  by  the 

Pagans  in  their  adoration  to  the  sun,  under  the 

(87) 


88  PAdAN     ORIGIN 

names  of  Bacckus,  Hercules,  Osiris,  Mitlira,  Atys, 
etc. 

1st.  "We  prove  that  tlie  Church  of  Rome,  fi-om 
which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant  Church- 
es, in  the  sixteenth  century,  borrowed  the  doctrine 
of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  did  not 
hold  it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
from  which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant 
Churches,  in  the  sixteenth  centur}^,  borrowed  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ, 
if,  until  nearly  the  end  of  the  third  century,  the 
various  Christian  denominations,  or  sects,  did  not 
believe  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ.  But,  until  nearly  the  end  of  the 
third  century,  the  various  Christian  denominations, 
or  sects,  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  su- 
preme divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  we  prove : — 

"We  request  the  readere  to  bear  in  mind,  in  read- 
ing this  chapter,  that  we  have  extracted  all  the 
proofs  and  statements  brought  forth  therein,  from 
the  works  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priest  Bergier, 
which  we  have  studied  in  our  Catholic  theological 
school ;  from  the  works  of  the  Rev.  Father  Jesuit 
Feller ;  from  the  History  of  the  Church,  by  Ber- 
rault-Ber-Castel,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest ;  and 
from  the  Ecclesiastical  History,  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergyman  Fleury.  Those  proofs  and 
Btatements  can  be  verified,  in  the  first  two  writers. 


•     OF    THE    DIVINITY   OF  JESUS   CHRIST.  89 

at  the  articles  of  tlie  sects,  and  of  their  authors, 
arranged  in  alphabetical  order ;  and  in  the  other 
authors  at  the  dates  of  the  centuries  and  years. 

Bergier  says :  "  The  Cerinthians  pretended  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  born  from  Joseph  and  Mary  like 
other  men ;  but  that  he  was  endowed  with  a  supe- 
rior wisdom  and  holiness;  that  when  he  was  bap- 
tized, Christ,  or  the  Son  of  God,  had  descended  on 
him  under  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  had  revealed 
to  him  God  the  Father,  till  then  unknown,  in 
order  that  he  might  make  him  known  to  men." 
The  Cerinthians  sprung  up,  according  to  St. 
Epiphane,  in  the  middle  of  the  first  century,  but 
according  to  St.  Ireneus,  at  about  the  year  88. 

Therefore  the  Cerinthians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Bergier  says:  "The  Carpocratians  supposed  the 
pre-existence  of  the  souls ;  pretended  that  they 
had  siuned  in  an  anterior  life ;  that  as  a  punish- 
ment of  their  crimes  they  had  been  condemned  to 

be  shut  up  in  bodies In  their  belief,  the 

Boul  of  Jesus  Christ,  before  her  incarnation,  had 
been  more  faithful  to  God  than  the  others.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  God  had  endowed  her  with 
more  knowledge  than  the  souls  of  other  men ;  also 
with  more  strength  both  to  defeat  the  geniuses 
opposed  to  humanity,  and  to  return  to  heaven 
against  their  will.  God,  they  said,  grants  the 
same  favor  to  those  who  love  Jesus  Christ;  and 
who,  like  him,  know  the  dignity  of  their  souls. 
Thus  the  Carpocratians  considered  Jesus  Christ 
8 


9Q  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

as  being  simply  a  man,  though  more  perfect  than 
the  others ;  they  beheved  that  he  was  the  sou  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  and  confessed  his  miracles  and 
sufierings.  They  are  not  accused  of  denying  the 
resurrection,  but  of  denying  the  general  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  of  holding  that  the  soul  only  (not  the 
body)  of  Jesus  Christ,  had  ascended  to  the  heav- 
ens." The  sect  of  the  Carprocratians  commenced 
towards  the  end  of  the  first  century. 

Therefore  the  Carpocratians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Bergier  writes  thus  about  the  Ebionites :  "  It  is 
very  probable  that  (although  some  authors  say 
that  they  date  from  the  year  72  of  the  first  centu- 
ry) they  commenced  to  be  known  only  in  the  year 
103,  or  even  later,  under  the  reign  of  Adrian,  after 
the  total  ruin  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  year  119 ;  that 
the  Ebionites  and  the  Kazarenes  are  two  difterent 
sects;  it  is  the  opinion  of  Mosheim,  Hist.  Christ., 
soec.  1,  par.  58,  soec.  2,  par.  39 The  Ebion- 
ites considered  Jesus  Christ  as  being  simply  a  man 
born  from  Joseph  and  Mary." 

Consequently  the  Ebionites  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Christian  sect  of  the  Basilidiana  was  found- 
ed in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  by  Basi- 
lide  of  Alexandria,  Feller  says;  he  had  been  con- 
verted from  the  philosophy  of  Pythagoras  and 
Plato  to  Christianism.  Bergier  writes  about  the 
Basilidians:  "They  believed  that  God  had  sent 
his  Son,  or  intelligence,  under  the  name  of  Jesus 


OP   THE   DIVINITY   OF   JESUS    CHRIST.  91 

Christ,  to  liberate  those  who  would  believe  in  him ; 
that  Jesus  Christ  had  really  performed  the  mira- 
cles ascribed  to  him  by  the  Christians ;  but  that  he 
had  only  a  fantastical  body  and  the  appearances 
of  a  man." 

Therefore  the  Basilidians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  sect  of  the  Marcionites  was  established,  in 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  b}^  Marcio,  the 
son  of  a  bishop  of  Pontus.  The  Marcionites  held 
that  God,  principle  of  the  spirits,  had  given  to 
one  of  them,  Jesus  Christ,  the  appearances  of 
humanity ;  and  had  sent  him  to  the  earth  to  abol- 
ish the  law  and  the  prophets;  to  teach  to  men 
that  their  souls  come  from  heaven,  and  that  they 
cannot  be  restored  to  happiness  except  in  reunit- 
ing to  God. 

Therefore  the  Marcionites  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Valentin  founded  the  sect  of  Valentinians  in 
140.  He  was  an  Egyptian,  and  had  been  con- 
verted from  philosophy  to  Christianism.  Bergier, 
after  lengthily  exposing  the  doctrines  of  his  sect, 
says,  "  Consequently  the  Valentinians  neither  ad- 
mitted the  eternal  generation  of  the  Word,  nor 
his  incarnation,  nor  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
nor  the  redemption  of  mankind,  in  the  proper 
sense.  In  their  opinion,  the  redemption  of  man- 
kind by  Jesus  Christ  did  not  extend  farther  than 
this — Jesus  Christ  had  come  to  the  world  to  liber- 
ate men  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Eons,  and  had 


92  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

given  tliem  examples  and  lessons  of  virtue,  and 
had  taught  them  the  true  means  of  obtaining 
eternal  happiness." 

Therefore  the  Valentinians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Ptolemaites  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  held  that  he  was  but  the  Son  of 
God. 

St.  Epiphane  in  his  work  Ilsere.  36,  and  Bergier, 
inform  us  that  the  Hcracleonites,  whose  chief 
was  Ileracleon,  and  who  were  widely  spread,  par- 
ticularly in  Sicily,  believed  that  the  Word  divine 
did  not  create  the  world,  but  that  it  had  been 
created  by  one  of  the  Eons,  or  spirits.  In  their 
opinion,  there  were  two  worlds,  the  one  corporeal 
and  visible,  and  the  other  spiritual  and  invisible, 
and  they  only  ascribed  the  formation  of  the  latter 
to  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  Eons, 
or  spirits.  The  Ileracleonites  were  organized  as  a 
sect  in  the  year  140. 

The  Colarbasians  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Sanderus  and  Bergier  say,  that  the  Barules  pro- 
fessed to  believe  that  the  Son  of  God  had  but  a 
fantastical  body ;  that  there  was  no  original  sin ; 
that  all  our  souls  had  been  created  before  the 
world,  and  all  had  sinned  in  that  former  state  of 
existence;  and  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God. 

The  Bardesanists,  thus  named  from  their 
founder,  Bardesanes,  a  Syrian,  who  lived  in  the 
second  century,  became  a  large  sect.     Beausobre 


OF   THE   DIVINITY  OF  JESUS   CHRIST.  93 

in  his''  History  of  IManicheanism,  tome  2,  book  4, 
chap.  9,  writes,  that  they  beheved  in  two  Princi- 
ples, originators  of  all  things,  the  one  good  and  the 
other  bad.  They  denied  that  the  eternal  Word, 
or  Son  of  God,  had  taken  a  human  flesh;  they 
said  that  he  had  taken  only  a  celestial  and  aerial 
body.  They  denied  the  future  resurrection  of  the 
body.     Bergier,  Feller,  etc.,  say  the  same. 

Then  the  Bardesanists  did  not  believe  the  doc- 
trine of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Marcosians  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the 
supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  held  only 
that  he  was  one  of  the  principal  Eons,  or  spirits. 
The  Marcosians  were  founded  by  Marc  in  the  sec- 
ond century. 

The  Theodotians,  Bergier  sa^^s,  believed  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  God  but  a  man ;  that  he  was 
above  the  other  men  only  by  his  miraculous  birth, 
and  by  his  extraordinary  virtues.  Theodote,  a 
native  of  Bysance,  founded  them  in  the  second 
century. 

The  Artemonians  also  denied  the  doctrine  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Docetes  held  that  Jesus  Christ  was  only 
the  Son  of  God,  and  that  he  had  but  apparently 
sufi:ered  humiliations,  torments,  and  death. 

The  Tatianists  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  Tatian 
gave  them  his  name  when  he  organized  them  as  a 
Christian  denomination,  in  the  second  century. 
Bergier  pretends  that  some  passages  of  the  writ- 


94  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

ings  of  this  learned  author  can  be  understood  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  Faiiste 
Socin,  and  others,  in  the  Bibliotheca  Fratrum 
Polonorum,  in  ten  vohimes,  in  foho,  proves  the 
contrary ;  and  at  the  same  time  they  prove  that 
Clement  of  Alexandria  and  other  Fathers  of  the 
second  century  disbelieved  the  doctrine  of  the  su- 
preme divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  Bergier  confesses, 
however,  that  it  is  doubtful  that  Tatian  had  been 
Orthodox  about  the  generation  of  the  AVord. 

The  Apellites  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  su- 
preme divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  their  belief 
there  was  but  one  God,  who  sent  to  the  world  his 
Son,  who  took  a  body  not  in  the  womb  of  the 
virgin  Mary,  but  from  the  four  elements.  Their 
sect  widely  spread  in  the  East  during  the  second 
century. 

Bergier  says,  writing  about  the  doctrines  of  the 
Ophites,  a  Christian  sect  of  the  second  century : 
"In  their  belief,  matter  was  eternal;  the  world 
was  created  against  the  will  of  God,  and  was 
governed  by  a  multitude  of  spu'its  who  govern 
the  world.  Christ  united  to  the  man  Jesus  to 
destroy  the  empire  of  the  Demiourge,  or  creator 
of  the  world. 

Therefore  the  Ophites  did  not  believe  the  doc- 
trine of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

One  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Ca'inites  was,  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  spirit  sent  by  God  to  save  the 
world. 

The  Hermogenians,  or  followers  of  Ilermogene, 


OF  THE   DIVINITY  OF  JESUS   CHRIST.  95 

a  Stoician  pliilosoplier,  converted  to  Christianisni 
at  tlie  end  of  the  second  century,  believed  that 
matter  was  eternal ;  that  there  was  but  one  God, 
who  had  sent  a  spirit,  Jesus  Christ,  to  correct  the 
evil  that  was  among  men. 

"  The  Hermians,  or  disciples  of  Ilermias,"  Uer- 
gier  sajs,  "  taught  that  matter  is  eternal ;  that 
God  is  the  soul  of  the  world ;  that  Jesus  Christ, 
ascending  to  the  heavens  loft  his  body  in  the  Sun, 
from  whom  he  liad  taken  it;  that  the  soul  of  man 
is  composed  of  lire  and  of  subtle  air;  that  the 
birth  of  children  is  the  resurrection,  and  that  the 
world  is  hell."  Bergier  adds,  in  another  article, 
that  they  believed  that  there  was  but  one  God, 
who  had  sent  to  the  world  a  spirit,  Jesus  Christ, 

Therefore  the  Hermians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Bergier,  writing  about  the  Sethians,  says : 
"  They  said  that  the  soul  of  Seth  had  passed  to 
the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  Seth  and  Jesus 
Christ  were  the  same  person." 

St.  Auo-ustine  informs  us  that  the  Severians  did 
not  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
flesh,  and  rejected  the  Old  Testament.  They  did 
not  beheve  that  Jesus  Christ  was  God  himself. 

The  Encratites  never  held  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
God.  Bergier  says,  "  They  did  not  believe  that 
the  Son  of  God  was  truly  born  from  the  virgin 
Mary." 

The  Yalesians  rejected  the  doctrine  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  God  himself. 


96  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Bergier  writes :  "  The  Hieracites,  heretics  of  the 
third  century,  were  established  by  Ilierax,  or 
Hieracas,  a  physician  by  profession,  born  at  Leon- 
tium,  or  Leontople,  in  Egypt.  St.  Epiphane, 
who  relates  and  refutes  the  errors  of  this  Secta- 
rian, confesses  that  the  austerity  of  his  morals 
was  exemplary;  that  he  was  familiar  with  the 
Greek  and  Egyptian  sciences;  that  he  had  thor- 
oughly studied  the  Scriptures,  and  that  he  was 
gifted  with  a  persuasive  eloquence.  lie  denied 
the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  admitted  but  a 
spiritual  resurrection  of  the  souls.  lie  confessed 
that  Jesus  Christ  had  been  generated  by  the 
Father;  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the 
Father  as  well  as  the  Son ;  but  he  had  dreamed 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  taken  a  human  body 
under  the  form  of  Melchisedek.  He  denied  that 
Jesus  Christ  had  a  true  human  body." 

Therefore  the  Hieracites  denied  the  supreme  di- 
vinity of  Jesus  Christ. 

Bergier  thus  writes  about  the  Samosatians: 
"They  were  disciples  and  followers  of  Paul  of 
Saraosate,  bishop  of  Antioch,  at  or  about  the 
year  262.  This  heretic  taught  that  there  is  in 
God  one  sole  person,  namely,  the  Father ;  that  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  only  two  attributes 
of  God,  under  which  he  manifested  himself  to 
men:  that  Jesus  Christ  is  not  God,  but  a  man  to 
whom  God  has  communicated  his  wisdom  in  an 
extraordinary  manner." 

Therefore  the  Samosatians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinitj'  of  Jesus  Christ. 


OF   THE   DIVINITY   OF   JESUS    CHRIST.  97 

The  Maiiiclieaus  denied  tlie  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  beUeved  that  Jesus  Christ  had  uot  a 
real  body  while  on  earth,  llis  soul,  they  said, 
was  of  a  nature  similar  to  the  nature  of  the  souls 
of  other  men,  though  more  perfect.  He  was  the 
Son  of  God. 

Therefore  the  Manieheans  denied  the  doctrine 
of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

All  the  above  sects  composed  nearly  the  whole 
Christian  body,  during  the  first  three  centuries; 
and,  as  shown  to  the  reader,  every  one  either 
ignored  or  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Then  it  remains  evident  that  the  Church  of 
Rome,  from  which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Prot- 
estant Churches,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  bor- 
rowed the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Confirmatur. — As  a  confirmation  of  this  last  and 
very  important  consequence,  we  are  to  prove, 

1st,  That  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  herself,  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  established  only  at  about  the  year  180. 

Bemark. — By  the  Church  of  Rome,  we  mean 
only  the  church  whose  bishop  (who  after  centu- 
ries assumed  the  title  of  Pope,)  was  at  Rome,  and 
which,  then,  did  not  extend  farther  than  the 
province  of  Rome,  and  a  few  other  occidental 
places. 

2d.  That  in  the  council  of  Nice,  held  in  325, 
9 


98  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

despite  the  efforts  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome;  and 
despite  the  tyranny  of  the  emperor  Constantine 
I.,  who  envoked  the  council  at  his  own  expense, 
attended,  surrounded,  and  enforced  it  with  miU- 
tary  force,  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  obtained,  from  the  bishops 
who  composed  it,  a  decision  in  favor  of  the  doc- 
trine she  held,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  God  him- 
self. 

3d.  That  it  was  only  long  after  the  council  of 
iNice  that  its  dicision,  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  prevailed 
among  the  churches  which  depended  on  the  Em- 
peror of  Constantinople,  and  on  the  Eishop  of 
Rome. 

4th.  We  will  also  present  a  succinct  view  of 
the  large  number  of.  Christians,  who,  without  the 
pale  of  the  communion  of  Rome,  preserved  the 
former  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God. 

1st.  We  prove  that  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
herself,  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  established  onl}^  at  about  the  year 
180. 

Bergier  himself  makes  the  following  confession  : 
"An  ancient  author,  who  is  believed  to  be  Caius, 
bishop  of  Rome,  who  had  written  against  Arte- 
mon,  and  of  whom  Eusebe  has  related  the  words. 
Ecclesiastical  History,  book  5,  chap.  22,  seems  to 
confound  together  the  Theodotians  and  the  Arte- 

nionians They  maintain,  he  says,  that  their 

doctrine  is  not  new ;  that  it  has  been  taught  by 


OF   THE   DIVINITY   OF   JESUS    CHRIST.  99 

the  apostles,  and  that  it  has  been  followed  in  the 
church  until  the  pontificates  of  Victor  and  of 
Zephyrine  his  successor,  but  that  since  that  time 
the  truth  has  been  altered." 

Bergier  adds,  "The  Thedotians  believed  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  man,  and  not  God,  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  above  the  other  men  only  by  his  mi- 
raculous birth,  and  by  his  extraordinary  virtues." 
Also,  Bergier  says,  that,  although  Theodote  was  a 
native  of  Bysance,  he  resided  in  Rome,  where  he 
preached  the  same  doctrine  as  Theodote,  at  least 
in  regard  to  Jesus  Christ  being  a  man  and  not 
God. 

Therefore  in  the  Church  of  Rome  lierself,  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  established  only  at  about  the  year  180. 

2d.  We  prove  that  in  the  council  of  Mce, 
held  in  325,  despite  the  efibrts  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome;  and  despite  the  tyranny  of  the  emperor 
Constautine  I.,  who  convoked  the  council  at  his 
own  expense,  attended,  surrounded,  and  enforc- 
ed it  with  military  force,  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  the  Church  of  Rome  obtained,  from 
the  bishops  who  composed  it,  a  decision  in  favor 
of  the  doctrine  she  held,  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
God. 

Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  surprised  at  hear- 
ing Alexander,  his  bishop,  teaching  in  an  assem- 
bly of  priests,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  God,  pro- 
tested against  this  new  doctrine.  An  animated 
controversy   between    him    and  Alexander,   and 


100  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

then  between  the  friends  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which  held  this  doctrine,  and  other  churches 
which  did  not,  ensued.  The  council  of  Kice  as- 
sembled, and  there  seventeen  bishops  boldly  faced 
the  legate  of  Sylvestre,  the  emperor  Constantine 
and  his  military  force;  and  they  sided  with  Arius. 
Eusebe,  bishop  of  Cesarea,  the  most  learned  of  the 
bishops  who  composed  the  council,  sided  with 
Arius.  He  is  the  same  Eusebe  who  wrote  the 
Evangelical  Preparation  and  Demonstration,  in 
two  volumes  in  folio ;  who  wrote  an  Ecclesiastical 
History,  the  Life  of  Constantine,  a  Chronic  and  a 
Commentary  on  the  Psalms  and  on  Isaiah.  Con- 
stantine forced  them  either  to  yield  and  to  acqui- 
esce to  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  or  to  be  expelled  from  their  episco- 
pal sees;  and  Arius,  exiled,  had  to  retire  in 
Palestine. 

Consequently,  in  the  council  of  Nice,  held  in 
325,  despite  the  efforts  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome; 
and  despite  the  tyranny  of  the  emperor  Constan- 
tine L,  Avho  convoked  the  council  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, attended,  surrounded,  and  enforced  it  with 
military  force,  it  Avas  with  the  greatest  difhculty 
that  the  Church  of  Rome  obtained,  from  the  bish- 
ops who  composed  it,  a  decision  in  favor  of  the 
doctrine  she  held,  that  Jesus  Cbrist  was  God  him- 
self. 

3d.  AVe  prove  that  it  was  only  long  after  the 
council  of  Nice,  that  its  decision  in  favor  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 


OF   THE    DIVINITY   OF   JESUS    CHRIST.  101 

prevailed  among  the  cliurches  wliicli  depended  on 
the  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and  on  the  Bishop 
of  Rome. 

Bergier,  despite  his  partiality  in  favor  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  is  obliged  to  make  the  following 
avowal : 

"The  anathema  pronounced  against  Arianism 
did  not  destroy  it ;  the  larger  portion  of  those  (bish- 
ops) loho  had  signed  the  decision  of  the  council,  only 
for  fear  of  being  exiled,  remained  attached  to  the  jKirtg 
of  Arius.  Constantine  himself,  influenced  by  an 
Arian  priest,  recommended  to  him  by  his  sister 
Constantia,  at  her  death  bed,  and  who  had  gained 
his  confidence,  consented  to  the  repeal  of  Arius 
from  his  exile,  in  328.  This  heretic  reunited  to 
his  partisans,  and  commenced  spreading  his  errors 
with  even  more  earnestness  than  before.  But  St. 
Athanase,  who  had  succeeded  to  Alexander  in  the 
episcopal  see  of  Alexandria,  constantly  refused  to 
commune  with  him,  and  by  this  firmness  displeased 
Constantine  I. 

"  Since  that  time  the  Arians  became  a  redoubta- 
ble party.     They  held  several  councils  where  they 

obtained  the  majority Arius  died  in  a  tragic 

manner,  in  the  year  337.  After  the  death  of  Con- 
stantine L,  in  337,  the  party  of  the  Arians  was 
alternatively  the  stronger,  in  ratio  of  the  less  or 
greater  protection  extended  to.  them  or  to  the  Or- 
thodox by  the  Emperors.  Under  Constance,  who 
favored  them,  they  filled  the  Orient  with  seditions 
and  troubles;  but  Constantine  Junior  and  Con- 


102  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

Btant,  wlio  reigned  in  Occident,  prevented  Arian- 
isni  from  spreading.  In  351,  Constance,  who  had 
become  the  master  of  the  whole  empire  by  the 
death  of  his  two  brothers,  protected  Arianisra 
more  openly  than  before.  Several  councils  were 
held  in  Italy,  in  which  the  Arians  had  the  major- 
ity ;  and  others,  in  which  the  Catholics  had  the 

superiority Julian,   who   was   emperor    in 

362,  sided  neither  with  one  party  nor  with  the 
other.  Valcns,  emperor  of  the  Orient,  in  364,  fa- 
vored and  embraced  Arianism ;  whereas  Valentin- 
ian,  his  brother,  did  all  in  his  power  to  extirpate  it 
from  the  Occident. 

"  Gratian,  and  afterwards  Theodose,  proscribed 

Arianism  from   the  whole  empire In  the 

beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Goths,  the  Bur- 
gundians,  and  the  Vandals,  spread  it  in  Gaul  and 
in  Africa.  The  Visigoths  introduced  it  in  Spain, 
where  it  subsisted  as  long  as  the  kings  of  that 
country  were  Arians  themselves,  until  the  year  660. 

"  Arianism  was  to  be  revived  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  probable  that  Arianism  would  have 
invaded  the  whole  Orient  if  the  Arians  had  been 
united." 

Therefore,  it  was  only  long  after  the  Council  of 
Nice,  that  its  decision,  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  prevailed 
among  the  churches  which  depended  on  the  Em- 
peror of  Constantinople,  and  on  the  Bishop  of 
Rome. 

4th.    We  will  also  present  a  succinct  view  of 


OF   THE   DIVINITY   OF   JESUS   CHRIST.  103 

the  la  ge  number  of  Christians,  who,  without  the 
pale  of  the  communion  of  Rome,  preserved  the 
former  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God. 

We  have  proved,  in  the  course  of  this  chapter, 
that  the  following  Christian  sects,  or  denomina- 
tions, did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity 
of  Jesus  Christ:  the  Corinthians,  the  Carpocra- 
tians,  the  Ebionites,  the  Basilidians,  the  Mar- 
cionites,  the  Valentinians,  the  Ptolcmaites,  the 
Heracleonites,  the  Colarbasians,  the  Barules,  the 
Bardesanists,  the  Marcosians,  the  Thcodotians,  the 
Artemoniaus,  the  Docetes,  the  Tatianists,  the  Apel- 
lites,  the  Ophites,  the  Cainites,  the  Hermogenians, 
the  Hermians,  the  Sethians,  the  Severians,  the 
Encratites,  the  Valesiaus  the  Ilieracites,  the  Sara- 
osatians,  and  the  IManicheaus.  But  nearly  all  these 
Christian  sects  of  the  first  three  centuries  outlived 
the  Council  of  Nice,  and  preserved  through  centu- 
ries the  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God 
himself:  this  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  histo- 
rians. 

From  the  four  heads  of  convincing  historical 
proofs  brought  forth  in  this  C07ijinnatur,  we  draw 
once  more  the  conclusion : 

1st.  Then  the  Church  of  Rome,  from  which 
the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant  Churches,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  borrowed  the  doctrine  of  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  did  not  hold  it  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2d.  We  prove  the  second  proposition  of  the 
argument  of  this  chapter,  namely,  that  the  Church 


104  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

of  Rome  uses,  in  her  adoration  to  Jesus  Clirist, 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  a  striking  similarity  with 
those  used  by  the  Pagans  in  their  adoration  to 
the  sun,  under  the  names  of  Bacchus,  Hercules, 
Osiris,  Mithra,  Atys,  etc. 

Every  year  the  Pagans  celebrated  with  pomp 
the  death  of  Bacchus.  Those  celebrations  were 
called  Titanical,  and  celebrations  of  the  perfect 
night.  They  supposed  that  this  god  had  been 
slain  by  the  Giants ;  but  that  his  mother,  or  Ceres, 
had  reunited  his  bones.  To  retrace  his  death  they 
killed  a  bull,  whose  raw  flesh  they  ate,  because 
Bacchus,  represented  with  the  horns  of  an  ox,  had 
been  thus  torn  by  the  Titans.  Julius-Firmicus,  an 
orthodox  author  of  the  fourth  centuiy,  who  wrote 
about  the  legend  of  Bacclius,  says  that  the  Pagans 
considered  those  fictions  as  solar  fables.  He  adds 
that  the  sun  was  irritated  at  being  thus  worship- 
ped :  here,  in  being  immersed  into  the  Nile  river, 
under  the  names  of  Osiris  and  of  Horus ;  there,  in 
being  mutilated  under  the  names  of  Atys  and  of 
Adonis  ;  and  in  other  places,  in  being  boiled  or 
roasted,  like  Bacchus.  The  Bacchanals,  or  disor- 
derly, noisy,  tumultuous,  and  frantic  scenes  took 
place. 

St.  Athanase,  St.  Augustine,  Theophile,  Athen- 
agoras,  Minutius-Felix,  Lactanee,  Firmicus,  and 
other  Christian  writers  of  the  first  centuries,  as 
well  as  more  ancient  authors,  describe  the  general 
mourning  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  anniversary  day 
of  the  death  of  Osiris.     They  describe  the  ceremo- 


OF    THE   DIVINITY   OF   JESUS   CHRIST.  105 

nies  practiced  on  liis  tomb,  and  the  tears  shed 
thereon  during  several  days.  The  mysteries  in 
which  the  representation  of  his  death  was  exhib- 
ited, and  which  took  place  during  the  night,  were 
called  mysteries  of  night. 

Likewise  the  death  of  Mithra  was  celebrated. 
To  the  nsnal  magnificence  of  his  temples  succeeded 
a  gloom}^  sight.  The  priests,  during  the  night, 
carried  his  image  in  a  tomb,  and  laid  it  on  a  litter, 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Phoenicians  laid  the 
image  of  Adonis.  This  ceremony  was  accompa- 
nied with  dismal  songs,  and  with  groans.  The 
priests,  after  this  feigned  expression  of  grief, 
kindled  a  flambeau,  called  sacred ;  anointed  the 
image  of  Mithra  with  chrisma,  or  with  perfumes; 
and  then  one  of  them,  in  a  solemn  and  loud  voice, 
pronounced  these  words :  "  Cheer  up,  holy  mourn- 
ers, your  god  is  come  again  to  life ;  his  sorrows  and 
his  sufferings  will  save  you." 

Julius  Firmicus,  who  relates  this,  exclaims  : 
"Why  do  you  exhort  those  unfortunate  to  rejoice? 
Why  do  you  deceive  them  with  false  promises? 
The  death  of  your  god  is  known  ;  but  his  new  life 
is  not  proved.  There  is  no  oracle  that  ascertains 
his  resurrection ;  he  has  not  appeared  to  men  after 
his  resurrection  to  prove  his  divinity.  An  idol 
you  bury ;  upon  an  idol  you  mourn ;  an  idol  you 
lift  up  from  the  tomb,  and  having  expressed  your 
grief  3^ou  rejoice,"  etc., 

The  Church  of  Eome  practices  alike  ceremonies 
in  celebrating  the  anniversary  day  of  the  death  of 


106  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Jesus  Christ.  All  the  ornaments  of  each  church, 
the  statues  and  miages  of  saints,  etc.,  are  clothed 
in  black.  In  one  of  the  chapels  of  the  church 
a  tomb  is  prepared,  in  which,  on  the  Holy  Thursday 
morning,  Jesus  Christ — ^namely,  a  wafer  which 
has  been  consecrated — is  laid,  shut  up,  not  in  the 
ostensorium,  but  in  a  ciborium,  as  a  sign  of  mourn- 
ing. The  priests  perform  this  ceremony.  During 
the  whole  day  the  church  is  thronged  with  people, 
who  come  to  express  to  Jesus  Christ  their  sym- 
path}'^  in  his  sufferings.  At  about  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  a  gloomy  procession,  composed  of  the 
priests  and  the  people,  march  along  the  streets  in 
the  dark  (this  procession  takes  place  only  in  Cath- 
olic countries,)  now  and  then  reciting  in  a  low  and 
dismal  tone  a  verse  of  the  psalm,  3Iiserere  mei 
Dens,  [translation,]  Lord  have  mercy  on  me. 
"When  this  procession  has  taken  place,  hymns  of 
suffering  and  of  death  are  sung  in  the  church, 
around  the  tomb  in  which  Jesus  Christ  lays.  At 
eleven  o'clock  a  priest  goes  to  the  pulpit,  and  in  an 
affecting  manner  relates  to  the  sobbing  and  weep- 
ing multitude  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  address  is  called  Passion's  sermon. 
The  people  spend  the  whole  night  in  the 
church  to  keep  company  to  Jesus  Christ  in  his 
sufferings,  they  say,  and  to  relieve  him  by  their 
sympathy.  In  the  morning  of  the  Holy  Friday 
the  church  is  yet  filled  with  mourners.  The 
priests,  processionally,  but  in  silence,  go  to  the 
tomb  where  Jesus  Christ  lays,  take  him  out,  and 


OF    THE   DrV^miTT   OF  JESUS   CHRIST.  107 

cany  him  into  the  tabernacle,  where  they  shut 
him  up,  but  without  leaving  any  taper  burning  in 
the  whole  church.  In  the  evening,  after  the  reci- 
tation of  the  Officium  Tenebrarum,  [translation,] 
Office  of  Darkness,  boys,  men,  women  and  all,  fill 
the  church  with  their  yells,  with  the  sharp  sound 
of  rattles,  with  the  blows  they  strike  on  boards 
with  small  and  large  sticks,  and  with  sounding, 
sonorous  instruments,  such  as  horns,  etc.  A  few 
days  after  they  eat  the  wafer,  which  they  pretend 
to  be  the  raw  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Pagans,  in  celebrating  the  resurrection  of 
Bacchus,  Osiris,  etc.,  who  represented  the  sun, 
lighted  the  lamps  of  their  temples  with  a  fire,  which 
the  priests  obtained  by  striking  a  piece  of  steel 
with  silex,  and  was  called  new  fire.  That  day  the 
priests  were  clothed  in  white  ornaments  ;  the  lus- 
tra! waters  were  renewed,  and  also  the  decorations 
of  the  temples :  so  in  every  church  the  Romish 
priests  strike  a  piece  of  steel  wdth  silex,  and  obtain 
a  fire  called  new  fire;  with  it  they  light  the  lamps, 
and  the  taper  called  Paschal  taper.  They  renew 
the  holy  water,  which  the  people  piously  carry  to 
their  homes,  and  keep  for  protection  during 
the  storms,  etc.  The  priests  change  their  priestly 
garments,  and  clothe  in  white. 

The  Pagans  worshipped  the  sun  under  the  name 
of  Aries,  because  the  Aries  was  one  of  the  celestial 
signs:  so  the  Church  of  Pome  worships  Jesus 
Christ  under  the  form  of  a  lamb.  Formerly,  the 
Roman  Catholic  parents  suspended  on  the  necks 


108  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

of  their  children  tlie  symbolic  image  of  a  lamb ; 
and  the  women,  instead  of  wearing  a  cross,  as 
they  do  now,  wore  a  lamb.  This  practice  had 
been  introduced  by  the  Eomish  priests,  who  sold, 
as  they  sell  now,  Agnus  Dei,  which  have  been  con- 
secrated with  prayers  and  sprinkled  with  holy 
water,  as  being  the  emblems  of  Jesus  Christ. 

A  lamb  was  represented  bleeding,  and  under  it 
was  a  vessel  in  which  the  blood  dropped.  This 
practice  was  in  use  till  the  year  680,  under  the 
pontificate  of  the  pope  Agathon,  and  under  the 
reign  of  the  emperor  Coustantine  III.,  surnamed 
Pogonat.  Then  it  was  ordered  by  the  sixth  council 
of  Constantinople,  canon  82,  that  a  man  nailed  to 
a  cross  should  be  substituted  to  the  ancient  symbol 
of  a  lamb.  However,  this  symbol  was  partly  pre- 
served in  the  church,  as  seen  above.  The  symbol 
of  a  lamb  is  yet  seen  on  the  tabernacle,  or  small  box 
of  marble,  or  of  wood,  richly  wrought  upon,  placed 
on  the  altar ;  also  on  the  ostensorium,  and  on  the 
forepart  of  the  altars. 

The  Pagans  placed  a  sunlike  halo  around  the 
heads  of  the  statues  of  Osiris,  Bacchus,  and  other 
gods,  who,  in  their  opinion,  represented  the  sun : 
likewise  in  the  Church  of  Pome  the  priests  place 
the  wafer,  which,  they  think,  is  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self, in  an  ostensorium,  whicli  is  shaped  like  the 
disc  of  the  sun;  and  which  represents  his  beams; 
the  wafer  itself  is  circular.  This  ostensorium  is  of 
silver,  or  of  gold,  and  adorned  with  diamonds,  or 
gems.     Above  the  altar  a  large  sun  is  generally 


OF   THE   DIVmiTY   OF   JESUS    CUEIST.  109 

eitlier  painted,  or  carved,  or  formed  with  draperies. 
The  Pagans  kept  in  their  temples  a  lamp  burning, 
in  the  honor  of  the  sun :  so,  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
churches  a  lamp  is  kept  burning,  day  and  night, 
near  the  altar,  in  the  honor  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Pagans  built  their  temples  so  that  the 
sanctuary  M'as  turned  towards  the  rising  sun : 
likewise,  the  Poman  Catholic  churches  are  built 
so  that  the  sanctuary  be  turned  towards  the  rising 
sun. 

The  Pagans  carried  in  triumph,  processionally, 
aud  with  the  most  brilliant  pomp,  the  statues  of 
Bacchus,  Osiris,  and  other  gods,  representing  the 
sun :  likewise,  on  the  feast  day  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  consecrated  wafer  is  carried  iu 
triumph,  processionally,  and  with  the  most  bril- 
liant pomp.  The  priestly  and  other  ornaments 
are  of  a  tissue  of  silver,  or  of  gold.  A  multitude 
of  people  follow  :  the  various  confraternities  of 
Penitents,  the  ones  grey,  the  others  blue,  the 
others  white,  etc.,  and  the  many  confraternities  of 
virgins,  of  married  women,  all  in  variegated  cos- 
tumes, march  before  the  consecrated  wafer.  The 
civil,  judiciary,  and  militarj'  authorities,  regiments 
of  soldiers  with  brass  bands,  with  drums  beating, 
with  banners  and  flags  unfurled,  escort  the  conse- 
crated wafer,  which  is  carried  by  the  first  priest  of 
the  parish,  under  a  canopy  of  the  most  costly  and 
magnificent  tissue. 

The  Pagans  burnt  flambeaux  before  the  statues 
of  Osiris,  Bacchus,  etc.,  to  represent  the  planets; 


110  OP   THE   DIVINITY   OF  JESUS   CHRIST. 

and  sometimes  to  represent  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac :  so,  in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches,  upon 
the  altar,  there  are  six  chandeliers,  with  candles 
burning  around  the  consecrated  wafer,  namely, 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  in  the  middle. 

From  all  the  above  facts  we  may  legitimately 
draw  the  conclusion,  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
uses,  in  her  adoration  to  Jesus  Christ,  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  a  striking  similarity  with  those  nsed 
by  the  Pagans  in  their  adoration  to  the  sun, 
under  the  names  of  Bacchus,  Hercules,  Osiris, 
Mithra,  Atys,  etc. 

"We  now  come  to  the  general  conclusions  of  the 
present  chapter. 

It  has  been  proved,  1st,  That  the  Church  of 
Rome,  from  which  the  self-called  Orthodox  Prot- 
estant Churches,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  bor- 
rowed the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2d.  It  has  been  proved  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  uses,  in  her  adoration  to  Jesus  Christ,  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  a  striking  similarity  with  those 
used  by  the  Pagans  in  their  adoration  to  the  sun, 
under  the  names  of  Bacchus,  Hercules,  Osiris, 
Mithra,  Atys,  etc, 

Then  the  Church  of  Rome,  from  which,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  self-called  Orthodox  Prot- 
estant Churches  borrowed  the  doctrine  of  the 
supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  had  borrowed  it 
from  the  Pagans. 

Therefore  the  dodnne  of  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus   Christ  is  of  Pagan   origin. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  ENDLESS  HELL. 


ARTICLE     I. 

MetemjJsi/chosis,  or  Transmigration  of  the  Souls. 

The  rulers  of  nations,  and  the  authors  of  the 
initiations,  had  a  profound  knowledge  of  the 
human  nature,  and  of  the  genius  of  the  people. 
From  the  fact  that  an  ox,  unaware  of  his  strength, 
yields  to  the  leading  hand  of  a  child,  so  they 
knew  that  would  they  let  the  masses  ignore  their 
power,  they  could  easily  control  them,  mould  their 
opinions,  habits,  and  morals  Also  aware  of  the 
terror  that  death  impressed  upon  their  minds,  and 
knowing  that  it  is  an  iujB.rmity  of  man's  nature, 
when  uncultivated  by  philosophy,  to  fear  more 
a  distant  and  indefinite,  but  unavoidable  misery 
beyond  the  grave,  than  the  most  excruciating  tor- 
tures on  earth,  they  found  in  those  prejudices  of 
the  people  a  sure  means  to  lead  and  rule  them. 
Therefore  they  endeavored  to  make  them  believe 
that  those  who  would  transgress  the  laws,  or 
would  commit  some  other  crimes,  should  be  pun- 
ished by  the  gods  immortal  in  the  future  life. 

(Ill) 


112  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

They  had  to  invent  the  nature  of  that  punish- 
ment, and  as  there  were  many  degrees  of  wicked- 
ness, they  had  to  admit,  also,  various  degrees  in 
the  punishment.  To  more  easily  and  more  surely 
make  the  people  believe  their  invention,  they 
thought  it  was  wise  to  make  the  punishment,  and 
its  degrees,  coincide  with  the  then  universally 
established  religion,  which  was  but  one,  though 
there  were  many  systems  of  theology.  That 
religion  was  the  one  we  have  examined  in  the 
first  chapter  of  this  work,  and  which  consisted  in 
the  belief  that  nature  was  an  uncreated  but  ani- 
mated being,  whose  vast  body  comprised  the 
earth,  the  sun,  the  planets,  and  the  stars,  to  which 
one  great  soul  impressed  motion  and  life ;  and 
that  those  principal  parts,  or  members,  of  the  body 
of  the  universe  were  animated  by  emanations  or 
irradiations  of  the  great  soul  of  the  universe,  or 
nature. 

This  pantheistic  doctrine  was  materialist;  for 
it  supposed  that  the  great  soul  of  the  universe 
was  the  purest  substance  of  the  fire  ether,  and 
thereby  man's  soul  was  of  the  same  nature.  It 
was  the  belief  even  of  the  famous  philosopher 
Pythagoras,  and  of  his  disciples.  All  animals, 
according  to  Servius,  the  commentator  of  Virgil, 
draw  their  flesh  from  the  earth,  their  humors 
from  water,  their  breath  from  the  air,  and  their 
Boul  from  the  breath  of  the  Deity.  Thus  the  bees 
have  a  small  portion  of  the  Deity.  Our  soul  is 
like  a  drop  of  water  which  is  not    annihilated, 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  113 

whetlier  it  evaporates  in  the  air,  or  condenses  and 
falls  again  in  rain,  or  rolls  into  the  sea  to  add  its 
littleness  to  the  massy  waters.  When  we  die  our 
life  melts,  reenters  into  the  great  soul  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  remains  of  our  body  mix  again  with 
the  elements  of  the  air. 

Virgil  believed  that  our  death  is  not  annihila- 
tion, but  that  it  is  a  separation  of  two  sorts  of 
matters,  the  one  thereof  remains  here  below,  and 
the  other  reunites  to  the  sacred  fire  of  the  stars, 
as  soon  as  the  matter  of  which  our  soul  is  com- 
posed has  reacquired  all  the  purity  of  the  subtle 
matter,  from  which  it  had  emanated,  aurcB  sim- 
plicis  ignetn.  Nothing,  Servius  says,  is  lost  in  the 
great  whole,  and  in  the  pure  fii'e  which  constitutes 
the  substance  of  the  soul.  Yirgil  says  of  the 
Bouls:  igneus  est  ollis  vigor,  et  coelestis  origo;  that 
they  are  formed  of  the  active  fire  that  shines  in 
the  heaven,  and  that  they  return  thither  when 
they  are  separated  from  the  body  by  death. 

The  same  doctrine  we  find  in  the  dream  of 
Scipio :  '^  It  is  from  there,"  he  says,  speaking  of 
the  regions  of  the  fixed  stars,  "  that  the  souls 
descended,  thereto  they  shall  return ;  they  were 
emanated  from  those  eternal  fires  we  name  stars. 
What  ye  call  death  is  but  a  return  to  true  life ; 
the  body  is  but  a  prison,  in  which  the  soul  is  mo- 
mentarily chained.  Death  breaks  her  ties,  and 
restores  her  to  liberty,  and  to  her  true  state  of 
existence.'' 

From  this  pantheistic  doctrine,  it  followed  that 
man's  soul  is  immortal  though  material. 
10 


114  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Upon  tliis  sort  of  immortality  of  our  soul,  the 
rulers  built  a  system  of  punishment,  called  Me- 
tempsychosis, or  transmigration  of  the  souls. 
This  system  was  so  much  the  better  adapted  to 
the  then  received  religion,  that  all  the  souls  being 
simply  different  emanations  from  the  same  fire 
ether,  the  consequence  was  that  all  the  souls  were 
homogeneous,  and  differed  only  in  appearance, 
and  by  the  nature  of  the  bodies  to  which  the 
fire-principle,  which  composed  their  substance, 
united.  Virgil  said  that  the  souls  of  all  animals 
are  an  emanation  of  the  fire  ether,  and  that  the 
difference  of  their  operations  on  earth  is  to  be  as- 
cribed only  to  the  difference  of  vases,  or  organized 
bodies,  which  receive  this  substance;  or,  according 
to  the  words  of  Servius,  the  lesser  or  greater  per- 
fection of  their  operations  is  in  ratio  of  the  nature 
of  the  bodies. 

The  Indians,  among  whom,  even  in  our  days, 
the  system  of  Metempsychosis  prevails,  think 
that  man's  soul  is  absolutely  of  the  same  nature  as 
that  of  other  animals.  They  say  that  man  is  supe- 
rior to  them,  not  in  his  soul  but  in  his  body,  whose 
organization  is  more  perfect  and  more  apt  to  re- 
ceive the  action  of  the  great  Being,  viz.,  of  the 
universe,  than  theirs  are.  They  ground  their  opin- 
ion on  the  example  of  children  and  of  old  men, 
whose  organs  being  too  weak  yet,  or  having  been 
weakened,  do  not  permit  their  senses  to  have  the 
same  activity  which  is  displayed  in  a  mature  age. 

The  soul,  in  the  exercise  of  her  operations,  being 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  115 

necessarily  in  submission  to  the  body  wbicli  she 
animates;  and  all  souls  flowing  from  the  immense 
I'eservoir  called  universal  soul,  it  follows  that  the 
portion  of  the  fire  ether  which  animates  a  man, 
might  as  well  animate  an  ox,  a  lion,  an  eagle,  a 
whale,  or  any  other  beast.  Fate  caused  that  she 
would  animate  a  man,  and  such  a  man;  but  when 
the  soul  will  be  disengaged  from  this  first  body, 
and  will  return  to  her  source,  she  will  be  able  to 
pass  into  the  body  of  another  animal;  and  her 
activity  will  be  lesser  or  greater,  in  ratio  of  the 
organization  of  the  new  body  into  which  she  will 
pass. 

All  the  great  work  of  nature  being  reduced  to 
successive  organizations  and  destructions,  in  which 
the  same  matter  is  ten  thousand  times  used  under 
ten  thousand  forms,  the  subtle  matter  of  the  soul, 
carried  in  that  current,  brings  life  to  all  the  moulds 
which  open  to  receive  her.  Thus  the  same  water 
flown  from  a  same  reservoir,  enters  the  various 
pipes  which  are  opened,  rolls  on  and  empties  either 
as  a  fountain,  or  as  a  cascade,  according  to  the 
forms  of  the  orifices  of  the  pipes;  then  it  congre- 
gates, evaporates,  and  forms  clouds  which  brings 
it  back  down  to  the  earth,  to  experience  again  an 
infinity  of  modifications.  It  is  the  same  of  the 
fluid  of  the  soul  spread  in  the  various  canals  of  the 
animal  organization,  flowing  from  the  bright  mass 
of  which  the  ethereal  substance  is  composed; 
thence  being  carried  to  the  earth  by  the  generating 
force  distributed  among  the  animals,  continually 


116  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

ascending  and  descending  in  the  universe,  and  cir- 
culating witliin  new  bodies  diversely  organized. 

Such  was  the  basis  of  Metempsychosis,  which 
became  one  of  the  most  powerful  political  engines 
in  the  hands  of  the  ancient  rulers,  legislators  and 
mystagogues.  Pythagoras  brought  this  doctrine 
from  the  Orient  to  Greece,  and  to  Italy.  This 
philosopher,  and  Enipedocles  after  him,  taught 
that  the  souls  of  the  criminals,  when  death  separ- 
ated them  from  the  bodies  they  animated,  passed 
into  the  bodies  of  beasts  in  order  to  suffer,  under 
those  divers  forms  the  punishment  of  their  wick- 
edness, until  they  might  recover,  by  expiation, 
their  native  purity.  So  this  transmigration  of  the 
souls  was  a  punishment  of  the  gods.  The  Stoiciana 
held  this  doctrine;  and  the  emperor  Marcus- Aure- 
lius,  in  the  ninth  book  of  his  Works,  said :  "  The 
epiritus,  or  breath,  which  animates  us,  passes  from 
one  body  into  another." 

To  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  what  was 
the  belief  of  the  ancients,  and  of  their  philosophers, 
in  regard  to  Metempscychosis,  we  take  from  the 
tenth  and  last  book  of  the  Republic  of  Plato  the 
following  lengthy  but  instructive  extract: — 

"  It  is  not  the  narration  of  Alcinolis  (namely,  a 
false  story,  such  as  the  one  of  Ulysse  to  the  Phea- 
cians,)  that  I  will  tell  you;  but  that  of  a  noble 
man,  of  Her,  the  Armenian,  a  native  of  Pamphily. 
He  had  been  killed  in  a  battle ;  but  when,  ten  days 
after,  the  dead  bodies  were  taken  away  for  inhu- 
mation, his,  instead  of  being  in  putrefaction  like 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  117 

the  others,  was  found  natural  and  entire.  It  was 
carried  to  his  house,  and,  on  the  twelfth  day,  when 
laid  on  the  wood-pile,  he  came  again  to  life ;  and 
he  related  to  the  assistants  what  he  had  seen  in 
the  other  world. 

"  'As  soon,'  he  says,  '  as  my  soul  left  my  body,  I 
arrived,  in  company  with  a  great  number  of  souls, 
at  a  mysterious  place,  where  were  seen  two  open- 
ings near  each  other,  and  two  others  correspond- 
ing in  the  sky.  Between  these  two  regions  were 
judges  sitting:  when  they  had  pronounced  their 
sentence  they  ordered  the  righteous  to  take  the 
right  hand  side  route  through  one  of  the  openings 
of  the  sky,  after  having  previously  placed  on  their 
breast  a  mark  containing  the  judgment  rendered 
in  their  favor;  also  they  ordered  the  wicked  to 
take  the  left  hand  side  route  through  one  of  the 
openings  of  the  earth,  carrying  on  their  back  a 
mark  containing  all  their  evil  actions.  When  I 
was  presented  to  the  judges,  they  decided  that  I 
should  return  to  the  earth  to  inform  men  of  what 
was  done  in  the  other  world ;  and  they  bade  me 
listen  and  observe  all  I  was  to  witness.    . 

" '  First  I  saw  the  souls  of  those  who  had  been 
judged,  the  ones  ascending  to  the  heavens,  and  the 
others  descending  below  the  earth  through  the  two 
corresponding  openings.  Withal  I  saw,  through 
the  other  opening  of  the  earth,  many  souls  coming 
out,  covered  with  filthiness  and  dust;  and  also, 
through  the  other  opening  in  the  sky,  I  saw  souls 
pure  and  spotless  descending:  they  seemed  to  re- 


"118  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

turn  from  a  long  voyage,  and  to  stop  with  pleasure 
in  the  meadow,  as  if  in  a  place  of  reunion.  Those 
who  knew  each  other  mutually  inquired  what  they 
had  seen  in  the  heaven,  and  in  the  earth.  The 
ones  related  their  adventures  with  groans  and 
tears,  caused  by  the  recollection  of  the  sufferings 
they  had  endured,  or  seen  others  endure,  during 
their  voyage  below  the  earth,  whose  duration  was 
of  a  thousand  years.  The  others,  who  returned 
from  the  heaven,  related  the  rapturous  pleasures 
they  had  enjoyed,  and  the  marvellous  things  they 
had  seen.' 

"It  would  be  too  long,  my  dear  Glaucon,  to  re- 
late the  whole  discourse  of  Her  on  this  subject. 
It  might  be  summed  up  in  saying  that  the  souls 
were  punished  ten  times  for  each  injustice  they 
.  had  committed  while  on  earth ;  that  the  duration 
of  each  punishment  was  of  one  hundred  years,  nat- 
ural length  of  man's  life,  in  order  that  the  punish- 
ment be  ever  ten-fold  for  each  crime.  Thus  those 
who  had  contaminated  themselves  with  murder; 
who  had  betrayed  States  and  armies,  and  reduced 
them  to  servitude ;  or  who  had  committed  similar 
crimes,  were  punished  tenfold  for  each  one  of 
those  crimes.  Whereas  those  who  had  done  good 
to  their  fellow  men,  who  had  been  holy  and  virtu- 
ous, received  in  the  same  proportion  the  reward  of 
their  good  deeds.  In  regard  to  children  who  die 
immediately,  or  a  short  time  after  they  are  born, 
Her  gave  details  which  it  is  useless  to  relate.  Ac- 
cording to  his  narration  there  were  great  recom- 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  119 

penses  for  those  who  had  honored  the  gods,  and 
had  respected  their  parents;  and  also  there  were 
extraordinary  tortures  for  the  parricides,  and  for 
impious  men. 

"'I  was  present,'  said  he,  'when  a  soul  asked 
another  where  was  the  great  Ardiee.  This  Ardiee 
had  tyrannized  over  a  city  of  Pamphily  a  thousand 
years  before;  he  had  killed  his  father,  who  was  an 
old  man,  and  he  was  guilty,  it  was  said,  of  many 
other  atrocious  crimes.  He  does  not  come,  the 
soul  answered,  and  he  will  never  come  here.  We 
all  have  witnessed,  in  relation  to  him,  the  most 
dreadful  spectacle.  "When  we  were  about  leaving 
the  subterraneous  abyss  after  our  pains  ended,  we 
saw  Ardiee,  and  a  great  number  of  others,  the 
most  of  whom  had  been  tyrants  like  himself;  there 
were  also  others,  who,  though  in  a  private  condi- 
tion, had  been  great  criminals. 

"'When  those  souls  were  about  going  out,  the 
opening  was  closed;  and  whenever  one  of  those 
wretched  souls,  whose  crimes  were  irremissible, 
tried  to  get  out  of  the  abyss,  she  howled.  There- 
upon hideous  and  firelike  beings  came.  They  vio- 
lently wrested  away  several  of  those  criminals ; 
then  they  seized  Ardiee  and  others,  tied  their  feet, 
their  hands  and  their  heads ;  and  after  throwing 
them  on  the  ground  and  torturing  them  with 
lashes,  they  dragged  them  through  bleeding  thorns, 
telling  the  shadows  which  they  met  on  their  route 
the  reason  why  they  treated  so  those  souls,  and 
adding  that  they  were  going  to  throw  them  into 


120  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

the  Tartarus.  Those  souls  added,  that  of  the  vari- 
ous fears  they  had  on  the  route  none  was  so  horri- 
ble as  that  of  hearing  that  howl ;  and  that  it  had 
been  an  inexpressible  pleasure  for  them  not  to  have 
heard  it  when  they  were  released  from  the  abyss. 

"  'Behold  what  took  place  in  regard  to  the  judg- 
ments, tortures,  and  rewards.  After  each  one  of 
those  souls  had  spent  seven  days  in  the  meadow 
they  left  on  the  eighth,  and  arrived,  after  a  march 
of  four  days,  at  a  designated  sjDot,  wherefrom  was 
seen  a  light  crossing  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  as 
straight  as  a  column,  and  similar  to  the  rainbow, 
but  brighter  and  purer.  They  reached  this  light 
in  one  day's  march.  There  they  saw  that  the 
extremities  of  the  heaven  meet  at  the  middle  of 
this  light,  which  united  them  fast,  and  which  em- 
braced all  the  circumference  of  the  heaven,  in 
nearly  the  same  manner  as  the  beams  which  girdle 
the  sides  of  galleys,  and  which  bear  their  frame. 
At  the  extremities  the  spindle  of  ISTecessity  hung, 
and  determined  the  revolutions  of  the  celestial 
spheres.' " 

Here  Her  describes  the  spindle.  This  descrip- 
tion we  omit,  for  it  does  not  relate  to  our  subject. 

Her  continues : — 

"  'l^ear  the  spindle,  and  at  equal  distances,  sat 
on  thrones  the  three  Parques,  daughters  of  l^eces- 
sity,  Lachesis,  Clotho,  and  Atropos,  dressed  in 
white,  and  their  heads  crowned  with  a  bandelet. 
They  united  their  chant  to  that  of  the  Sirenes; 
Lachesis  sung  the  past,   Clotho  the  present,  and 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  121 

Atropos  the  future-  Clotho,  now  and  then,  touch- 
ed the  spindle  with  her  right  hand,  and  made  it 
revolve  exteraally.  Atropos,  with  her  left  hand, 
impressed  motion  to  each  one  of  the  interior 
whirls,  and  Lachesis,  with  both  hands,  touched 
now  the  spindle,  and  then  the  interior  whirls. 
Wlien  the  souls  arrived  they  appeared  before  Lach- 
esis. First  a  Hierophant  assigned  a  rank  to  each 
one;  then  taking  from  the  lap  of  Lachesis  the 
fates  and  the  various  conditions  of  human  life,  he 
mounted  on  a  high  stand,  and  spake  thus : — 

"  '  This  is  what  the  virgin  Lachesis,  daughter  of 
ll^ecessity,  says :  Voyaging  souls  you  are  to  com- 
mence another  career,  and  return  into  a  mortal 
body.  The  genius  will  not  choose  for  you :  each 
one  of  you  shall  choose  hers.  The  first  one  that 
fate  will  designate  shall  choose  first,  and  her  choice 
shall  be  irrevocable.  Virtue  has  no  master;  she 
clings  to  him  who  honors  her,  and  flies  from  him 
who  despises  her.  The  error  of  the  choice  shall 
fall  on  3'ou.     God  is  innocent. 

"  '  Thereupon  the  Hierophant  casting  the  fates, 
each  soul  picked  up  the  one  that  fell  before  her, 
except  myself  who  had  been  forbidden  it.  Each 
one  knew  then  in  which  rank  she  had  to  choose. 
Then  fKe  same  Hierophant  placed  before  them 
callings  of  all  kinds,  whose  number  was  greater 
than  that  of  the  souls  who  were  to  choose ;  for  all 
the  conditions  of  men  and  beasts  were  assembled 
therein.  There  were  tyrannies,  the  ones  were  to 
last  till  death ;  and  the  others  were  to  be  suddenly 
11 


122  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

interrnpted,  and  were  to  end  by  exile,  poverty  and 
indigence.  Also  there  were  seen  conditions  of 
illustrious  men,  the  ones  for  beauty,  for  strength, 
for  fame  in  the  coml^ats ;  and  the  others  by  their 
nobleness,  and  the  great  qualities  of  their  ances- 
tors; there  were  seen  also  obscure  conditions. 
There  were  destinies  of  women  of  the  same  variety. 
But  there  was  no  regulation  for  the  rank  of  the 
souls,  because  each  one  w^as  necessarily  to  change 
of  nature  according  to  her  choice.  Besides,  wealth, 
poverty,  and  diseases,  Avere  found  in  all  conditions: 
here  without  any  mixture,  there  in  a  just  propor- 
tion of  advantages  and  disadvantages.' 

"  But  this  is  evidently,  my  dear  Glaucon,  the 

redoubtable  trial  for  mankind The  Hiero- 

phant  added :  he  who  chooses  the  last,  provided  he 
be  judicious,  and  then  be  consistent  in  his  con- 
duct, may  hope  to  be  blessed  in  life.  Therefore 
let  him  who  is  to  have  the  first  choice,  be  not  pre- 
sumptuous ;  and  let  him  who  has  the  last  choice, 
despair  not.  When  the  liierophant  had  thus 
spoken,  he  to  whom  the  first  fate  had  been  de- 
volved, hastily  advanced,  and  took,  without  any 
deliberation,  the  greatest  tyranny ;  but  when  he 
had  considered  it,  and  seen  that  his  destiny  was  to 
eat  his  own  children,  and  to  commit  other  enor- 
mous crimes,  he  lamented;  and,  forgetting  the 
recommendation  of  the  Hierophaut,  charged  upon 
the  fortune  and  the  gods,  with  the  wretchedness 
of  his  fate.  This  soul  was  one  of  those  who  came 
from  heaven ;  she  had  previously  lived  in  a  well 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  123 

governed  state,  and  had  been  virtuous  more  from 
temper  and  habit,  than  from  philosophy. 

"  On  the  contrary,  the  souls  who  had  sojourned 
in  the  subterranean  region,  and  who  had  both  the 
experience  of  their  own  sufferings,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  misfortunes  of  others,  were  cautious 
in  their  choice.  This  experience  on  one  side,  and 
that  inexperience  on  the  other,  together  with  the 
fate  which  decided  the  rank  for  the  choice,  were 
the  cause  that  the  most  of  the  souls  exchanged  a 
good  condition  for  a  bad  one,  and  a  bad  one  for 
a  good  one.  Her  also  said,  that  it  was  a  strange 
spectacle  to  see  in  what  manner  each  soul  made 
her  choice,  nothing  was  more  extraordinary,  nor 
more  pitiful ;  the  most  of  them  were  guided  in 
their  choice  by  the  habits  they  had  contracted  in 
their  previous  life.  He  had  seen  the  soul  of 
Orpheus  choosing  the  condition  of  a  SAvan,  from 
hatred  to  women  who  had  killed  him,  and  from 
whom  he  did  not  wish  to  receive  birth.  He  saw 
the  soul  of  Thamyris  choosing  the  condition  of 
nightingale ;  likewise  he  saw  a  swan  and  several 
other  birds  choosing  the  human  condition. 

"Another  soul  had  chosen  the  condition  of  a 
lion ;  it  was  that  of  Ajax,  son  of  Telamon,  who,  re- 
membering the  offence  she  had  received  in  the  judg- 
ments rendered  about  the  arms  of  Achilles^  lefus- 
ed  to  take  again  a  human  body.  Then  came  thj 
soul  of  Agamemnon,  who,  from  antipathy  against 
mankind  on  account  of  her  past  sufferings,  chose 
the  condition  of  an  eagle.     The  soul  of  Atalante, 


124  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

desirous  of  the  athletic  honors,  chose  to  be  a 
champion.  The  soul  of  Epee,  son  of  Panope, 
preferred  the  condition  of  a  woman  skilful  in 
handiworks.  The  soul  of  the  hufFoon  Thersite 
came  one  of  the  last,  and  entered  the  body  of  a 
monkey.  There  were,  Her  added,  souls  of  ani- 
mals which  exchanged  their  condition  against 
ours,  and  human  souls  which  passed  into  bodies 
of  beasts.  The  souls  indistinctly  passed  from  the 
bodies  of  animals  into  human  bodies,  and  from 
human  bodies  into  bodies  of  animals;  those  of 
the  righteous  into  species  of  a  higher  order. 

"When  all  the  souls  had  chosen  their  new  con- 
dition of  existence,  according  to  the  rank  determ- 
ined by  fate,  they  came  to  Lachesis  in  the  same 
order.  She  gave  to  each  one  the  genius  of  her 
choice,  and  this  genius  was  to  be  her  guardian 
during  her  mortal  life,  and  was  to  aid  her  in  the 
accomplishment  of  her  destiny.  This  genius  first 
led  her  to  Clotho,  who,  with  her  hand,  and  with 
a  revolution  of  the  spindle  confirmed  the  chosen 
destiny.  "When  the  soul  had  touched  the  spindle, 
the  genius  took  her  to  Atropos,  who  rolled  the 
thread  in  her  fingers,  to  render  irrevocable  what 
had  been  already  spun  by  Clotho.  After  that, 
the  soul  proceeded  to  the  throne  of  Necessity, 
under  which  the  soul  and  her  genius,  or  demon, 
passed  together.  When  all  had  passed,  they  went 
to  the  plain  of  the  Lethe  river,  where  they  were 
oppressed  by  an  intense  heat;  for  there  was  in 
this  plain,  neither  tree  nor  shrub.     The  evening 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  125 

came  and  they  spent  tlie  night  near  the  river 
Ameles,  whose  water  can  be  contained  in  no  ves- 
sel. Every  soul  was  obliged  to  drink  some  of  its 
water.  They  fell  asleep;  but  at  about  midnight 
the  thunder  roared,  and  all  the  souls  suddenly 
waking  up  were  dispersed,  like  shooting  stars, 
towards  the  various  places  where  they  were  to 
commence  their  new  life. 

"As  to  Her,  he  had  been  forbidden  to  drink 
of  the  water  of  the  Lethe  river  ;  nevertheless,  he 
knew  not  in  what  manner  his  soul  had  returned 
into  his  body,  but  having  opened  his  eyes  in  the 
morning,  he  had  seen  that  he  was  laying  on  a 
wood-pile. 

"  This  tradition,  my  dear  Glaucon,  has  been 
handed  down  to  us;  and  if  we  believe  it,  it  is  very 
apt  to  save  us;  we  will  safely  cross  the  Lethe 
river,  and  we  will  preserve  our  soul  free  from 
stain." 

The  reader  has  undoubtedly  remarked  the  last 
sentence  of  this  extract,  which  proves  the  antiquity 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  the  souls. 
Burnet  wrote,  that  it  was  so  ancient  and  so  uni- 
versally spread  in  Egypt,  Persia,  India,  and  other 
countries  of  the  Orient,  that  it  seemed  it  had 
descended  from  heaven,  and  been  believed  by  the 
first  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  Herodote  found  it 
established  in  Egypt  in  the  remotest  ages.  It  was 
the  basis  of  the  theology  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
subject  of  the  celebrated  Metamorphosis  and  in- 
carnations of  their  legends.     Metempsychosis  has 


126  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

been  immemorially  believed  in  Japan,  wliere  the 
people,  even  in  our  days,  according  to  Kcempsfer, 
abstain  from  meat,  and  live  exclusively  upon  fruits 
and  vegetables.  In  Siam,  Avliere  tbe  Talapoins  or 
monks  hold  it  as  a  sacred  dogma ;  in  China  by 
the  Tao-See;  also  among  the  Kalbouls  and  the 
Mongols,  and  among  the  Thibetans,  who  admit 
that  the  souls  pass  even  into  the  plants,  into  the 
trees,  and  even  into  the  roots.  However,  the 
Thibetans  believe  that  it  is  only  by  uniting  to 
human  bodies,  that  the  souls  can,  after  successive 
changes,  be  restored  to  their  former  purity. 

The  aim  of  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis 
was  to  accustom  man  to  detach  himself  from  the 
gross  matter,  to  which  he  is  tied  here  below,  and 
to  excite  in  him  the  desire  of  promptly  returning 
there,  wherefroni  he  had  formerly  descended. 
Tbe  rulers  of  the  people  frightened  them  with  the 
pictures  of  humiliating  transformations  of  their 
souls,  as  the  Catholic  priests  and  the  Partlalist 
preachers  do  among  us,  with  their  teaching  of  an 
endless  hell.  The  people,  amazed  and  terrified,  for 
the  masses  were  ignorant,  believed  all  those  poli- 
tico-religious fables.  They  firmly  believed  that 
the  souls  of  the  wicked  passed  into  vile  bodies; 
that  they  were  punished  with  cruel  and  loath esome 
diseases;  that  those  who  did  not  reform  after  a 
certain  number  of  transmigrations  were  delivered 
up  to  the  Furies  and  to  the  evil  spirits  (or  devils) 
to  be  tortured ;  and  that,  after  that,  they  were  sent 
again  to  the  earth,  as  in  a  new  Bchool,  and  were 


or  ENDLESS   HELL.  127 

obliged  to  run  a  new  race.  Thus  we  see  that  the 
whole  system  of  IVIetempsychosis  rested  on  the 
false  supposition,  that  it  was  necessary,  in  order 
to  govern  the  people  here  below,  to  frighten  them 
with  absurd  and  visionary  tales  of  atrocious  tor- 
tures beyond  the  grave,  which  were  the  more 
terrifying  for  the  very  reason  of  their  absurdity 
and  atrociousness. 

Timee  of  Locre,  one  of  the  disciples  of  Socrates, 
wrote,  that  among  the  various  means  of  govern- 
ing those  who  are  not  able  to  reach  the  truth  of 
the  principles,  on  which  nature  has  established  jus- 
tice and  morals,  Metempsychosis  is  an  efficacious 
one.  He  said:  "Let  them  be  taught  those  dogmas 
which  inform  us  that  the  souls  of  effeminate  and 
pusillanimous  men  transmigrate  into  female  bod- 
ies ;  those  of  murderers  into  bodies  of  wild  beasts  ; 
those  of  licentious  men  into  bodies  of  wild  boars 
and  hogs;  those  of  fickle  and  inconstant  men  into 
bodies  of  birds ;  those  of  idle,  ignorant  and  silly 
men  into  bodies  of  fishes.  The  just  I^emesis  reg- 
ulates those  pains  in  the  future  life  conjointly  with 
the  gods  of  the  earth,  avengers  of  the  crimes  they 
have  witnessed.  The  supreme  God  has  entrusted 
them  with  the  government  of  this  inferior  world. 
Let  them  be  frightened,  even,  by  the  religious  ter- 
rors conveyed  to  the  soul  by  those  discourses 
which  describe  the  vengeance  of  the  celestial  gods, 
and  the  unavoidable  torments  reserved  to  the  crim- 
inals in  the  Tartarus  ;  and  also  by  the  other  fictions 
which  Homer  has  found  in  the  ancient  sacred 


128  PAGAN   ORIGIT? 

opinions.  Sometimes  the  body  is  cured  by  poison- 
ous substances ;  so  the  souls  can  be  ruled  by  fables 
when  they  cannot  be  governed  by  truth." 

This  philosopher  plainly  gives  us  his  secret, 
which  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  secret  of  all  legis- 
lators and  priests.  True,  the  belief  of  these  fablea 
has  restrained  many  from  vice  and  crime ;  never- 
theless we  firmly  believe  that  men  ought  to  be  led 
to  justice  by  the  bright  light  of  the  truth,  and 
not  by  the  dismal  light  of  error,  and  of  super- 
stition :  the  one  elevates  man,  but  the  other  keeps 
him  in  an  eternal  infancy  and  ig-norance.  How 
sad  it  is  to  see,  even  now-a-days,  in  free  and  en- 
lightened America,  priests,  and  Protestant  minis- 
ters themselves,  keeping  down  in  intellectual,  moral 
and  religious  bondage,  millions  of  Christians,  who, 
from  fear  of  endless  curse,  kiss  the  very  chains 
which  heavily  they  drag  through  life ;  who  believe 
that  God  will  endlessly  roast  men — ^liis  children — 
in  an  undying  fire!  More  surely,  and  more  easily, 
could  those  purely  minded,  but  unfortunate  Chris- 
tians, be  guided  to  love  God,  if  they  knew  that 
he  is  not  worse  than  a  tiger;  that,  on  the  contrary, 
he  is  truly  good  and  loving ;  more  virtuous  they 
would  be  if  they  were  taught  that  virtue  is  the 
source,  and  the  only  true  source,  of  happiness. 
Truer  fraternity  would  reign  in  our  communities, 
if  priests  and  pretended  Protestants,  who  tyrannize 
over  the  souls  of  their  misled  victims,  and,  like  the 
Pharisees  of  old,  lay  upon  their  shoulders  a  bur- 
den they  would  not  be  willing  to  touch  with  their 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  129 

own  fingers  —  yea,  they  lay  upon  tlieir  mind  and 
heart  the  leaden  weight  of  the  dogma  of  endless 
misery,  which  they,  at  least  the  leaders  of  the 
leaders,  reject — truer  fraternity  would  exist,  we 
say,  for  there  would  not  be  in  our  communities,  a 
class  of  Christians,  believing  that  they  are  the  elect 
of  God  for  righteousness  and  eternal  bliss,  while 
all  the  others  shall  be  endlessly  damned.  Hence 
their  indifference,  or  rather  aversion  for  them; 
hence  a  spirit  of  Pharisaism:  hence  a  spirit  of 
religious  aristocracy,  which  unfortunately  ramifies 
into  a  social  aristocracy  ! 

ARTICLE    II. 

Tartarus. 

When  legislators,  priests  and  philosophers  had 
invented  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis,  the 
mystagogues  and  the  poets  took  hold  of  it,  and 
endeavored  to  spread  it  among  the  people,  in  con- 
secrating it,  the  ones  in  their  chants,  and  the  others 
in.  the  celebration  of  their  mysteries.  They  clothed 
it  with  the  charms  of  poetry,  and  presented  it  with 
magical  illusions.  All  united  to  deceive  the  people, 
under  the  specious  pretext  of  bettering  and  gov- 
erning them  with  a  surer  hand.  The  widest  field 
was  opened  to  fictions ;  and  the  genius  of  the 
poets,  as  well  as  the  cunning  of  the  priests,  were 
inexhaustible  in  portraying  the  bliss  of  the  right- 
eous hereafter,  and  the  horror  of  the  horrible 
prisons  wherein  crime  was  to  be  punished. 


130  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Each  one  portrayed  them  according  to  his  own 
fancy,  and  added  new  scenes  and  views  to  the  de- 
scriptions of  those  unknown  lands ;  of  that  world 
of  new  creation,  which  the  imagination  of  poets 
peopled  with  shadows,  chimeras  and  phantoms, 
for  the  purpose  of  frightening  the  people :  for 
rulers  wrongly  thought  that  their  minds  could  not 
rise  up  to  the  abstract  notions  of  metaphysics  and 
morals.  The  Elysium  and  the  Tartarus  were  more 
pleasing  and  more  vividly  striking  to  the  imagi- 
nation of  the  people:  therefore  darkness  and  light 
were  successively  presented  to  the  gaze  of  those 
initiated  to  the  mysteries.  To  the  darkest  night, 
and  to  frightful  spectres,  succeeded  a  bright  day, 
whose  light  shone  around  the  statue  of  the  Deity  : 
one  could  not  help  feeling  a  mysterious  terror, 
when  entering  that  sanctuary,  where  all  was  dis- 
posed to  represent  the  Tartarus  and  the  Elysium. 
It  was  in  this  sanctuary  that  the  one  initiated, 
being  finally  introduced,  saw  the  picture  of  charm- 
ing meadows,  lighted  by  a  pure  sky :  there  he 
heard  harmonious  voices,  and  the  majestic  chants 
of  sacred  choirs.  It  was  then  that,  entirely  free, 
and  rid  of  all  evils,  he  joined  the  multitude  of 
those  initiated ;  and  that,  a  crown  of  flowers  on  his 
head,  he  celebrated  the  holy  orgies. 

Thus  the  ancients  represented  here  below,  in 
their  initiations,  what  was,  they  said,  to  happen 
hereafter  to  the  souls,  when  they  would  be  disen- 
gaged from  their  bodies ;  and  would  be  liberated 
from  the  obscure  prison,  wherein  fate  had  chained 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  131 

them  by  uniting  them  to  terrestrial  matter.  In 
the  mysteries  of  Isis,  of  which  we  hold  tlie  details 
from  Apnleo,  the  candidate  passed  through  the 
dark  region  of  the  empire  of  the  dead ;  thence  into 
a  vast  enclosure,  which  represented  the  elements  ; 
and  then  he  was  admitted  into  the  bright  region, 
where  the  brightest  sun  succeeded  to  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  namely,  in  the  three  worlds,  the 
terrestrial,  the  elementary,  and  the  celestial.  He 
who  had  been  initiated  said  :  "  I  have  approached 
the  boundaries  of  death  in  treading  the  threshhold 
of  Proserpine ;  therefrom  I  have  returned  through 
the  elements.  Then  I  saw  a  bright  light,  and  I 
found  myself  in  the  presence  of  the  gods."  This 
was  the  autopsy. 

What  mystagogy  exhibited  in  the  sanctuaries, 
poets,  and  even  philosophers,  in  their  fictions,  pub- 
licly taught  to  the  people :  hence  the  descriptions 
of  the  Elysium  and  of  the  Tartarus  found  in 
Homer,  Virgil  and  Plato,  and  all  those  given  us 
by  many  systems  of  theology.  "VVe  never  had  a 
description  of  the  earth  and  of  its  inhabitants,  a 
description  as  complete  as  that  transmitted  to  us, 
by  the  ancients,  about  those  countries  of  new  cre- 
ation, known  under  the  names  of  Hell,  Tartarus, 
and  Elysium.  Those  men,  whose  geographical 
knowledge  was  so  limited,  have  given  us  the 
minutest  details  of  the  abode  of  the  souls  beyond 
the  grave;  of  the  government  of  each  one  of  the 
two  empires,  which  form  the  domain  of  the 
ehadows ;  of  their  habits  j  of  their  diet ;  of  their 


132  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

pains  and  pleasures ;  and  even  of  the  costume  of 
the  inhabitants  of  these  two  regions.  The  same 
poetical  imagination  which  had  invented  that 
new  world,  arbitrarily  traced  out  its  plan  and  dis- 
tribution. 

Socrates,  in  the  Phoedo  of  Plato,  a  work  in- 
tended to  prove  the  immortality  of  our  soul,  and 
the  necessity  of  practicing  virtue,  speaks  of  the 
place  where  the  souls  go  after  death.  He  imagines 
a  sort  of  ethereal  land,  superior  to  the  one  we  in- 
habit, and  situated  in  a  sunnier  region.  There  is 
nothing  on  our  earth  that  can  compare  to  the 
beauties  of  this  wonderful  abode.  There  colors 
are  brighter,  the  vegetation  richer;  the  trees, 
flowers  and  fruits  are  infinitely  superior  to  those 
of  our  earth.  There  precious  stones  are  so  bright 
that  those  of  our  earth  are  but  their  shadow. 
This  ethereal  land  is  strewed  with  pearls  of  the 
purest  crystal ;  everywhere  gold  and  silver  are 
dazzling.  There  beasts  are  more  beautiful,  and 
more  perfectly  organized  than  ours.  There  the 
air  is  the  sea,  and  ether  is  the  air.  There  seasons 
are  so  harmoniously  combined,  that  the  fortunate 
inhabitants  are  not  subject  to  infirmities  and  to 
diseases.  There  the  temples  are  inhabited  by  the 
gods  themselves,  who  familiarly  converse  with 
men.  The  inmates  of  this  delightful  mansion  are 
the  only  ones  who  see  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the 
stars,  as  they  truly  are. 

To  this  Socrates  adds,  that  men,  who,  here 
below,  distinguish  themselves  for  their  piety  and 


OP    ENDLESS   HELL.  133 

exactitude  in  discliarging  tlieir  social  duties,  will 
be  admitted  in  this  abode  of  happiness  when  death 
destroys  their  mortal  form.  There  all  those 
whom  philosophy  has  led  to  wisdom  will  dwell. 
Socrates  concludes  thus  : 

Then  it  is  for  us  a  strong  inducement  to  study 
wisdom,  and  to  practice  virtue,  while  we  are  on 
earth.  These  expectations  are  high  enough  for  us 
to  risk  the  chances  of  this  opinion,  and  not  to 
break  its  charms. 

This  is  a  plain  avowal  of  the  motive  of  the 
fiction  :  such  is  the  secret  of  nearly  all  legislators, 
and  the  deceitfulness  of  the  most  renowned  phi- 
losophers. 

The  second  part  of  the  land  of  the  dead,  called 
Tartarus,  the  leaders  of  the  people  also  min- 
utely described.  According  to  their  description, 
this  abode  of  the  wicked  presents  the  horrid  view 
of  precipices,  caverns,  and  abysses,  more  frightful 
than  those  we  see  on  earth.  Those  caverns  com- 
municate to  each  other  in  the  profundities  of  the 
earth,  through  the  medium  of  sinuosities  vast  and 
dark,  and  of  subterraneous  canals,  in  which 
waters  flow ;  the  ones  cold,  and  the  others  v\'arm  : 
also  in  several  of  those  canals  flow  torrents  of  fire, 
and  in  others  the  filthiest  mire.  The  vastest  of 
those  caverns  is  in  the  center;  and  into  it  four 
main  rivers  ebb,  to  spring  out  again.  The  first  is 
the  Acheron,  which  forms  beneath  the  earth  a 
shoreless  marsh,  wherein  the  souls  assemble.  The 
second  is  the  P^-riphlegeton,  which  rolls  torrents 


134  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

of  burning  sulphur.     The   third  is  the   Oocyte; 
and  the  fourth  is  the  Styx. 

In  this  horrible  abode  divine  justice  tortures 
the  criminals.  At  the  gate  of  the  Tartarus  the 
frightful  Tisiphon,  whose  gown  is  reeking  with 
blood,  watches  day  and  night.  The  gate  is  also 
defended  by  a  strong  tower,  backed  by  three 
walls,  which  are  surrounded  by  the  burning  waves 
of  the  Phlegeton  river,  that  rolls  huge  stones  on 
fire.  There  are  incessant!}^  heard  the  rattle  of 
chains  dragged  b}^  wretched  victims;  their  groans; 
and  the  strokes  of  lashes  that  tear  their  flesh. 
There  is  seen  an  hydra  with  a  hundred  heads, 
whose  mouths  are  ever  gaping  for  new  victims  to 
be  devoured.  There  a  vulture  is  constantly  feed- 
ing on  the  ever  re-growing  entrails  of  a  criminal. 
Other  victims  carry  a  heavy  rock  to  the  summit  ot 
a  mountain,  where  they  must  set  it ;  but,  vain  are 
their  eftbrts,  it  rolls  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
valley.  Other  ciiminals,  tied  to  a  wheel,  relent- 
lessly revolving,  are  not  permitted  the  slightest 
rest  in  their  torture.  Others,  placed  near  refresh- 
ing waters,  and  near  trees  loaded  with  fruit,  are 
ever  devoured  with  unquenchable  thirst  and  hun- 
ger. If  they  stoop  to  drink  the  water  flies  from 
their  mouth,  and  a  stinking  mire  sticks  to  their 
lips.  If  they  lower  a  limb  to  cull  a  fruit,  the  limb 
slips  from  their  hand. 

Farther,  fifty  female  victims  are  forced  to  fill 
up  with  water  a  cask,  whose  bottom  is  riddled. 
Indeed,  there  is  uo  sort  of  torment  that  was  not 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  135 

invented  by  legislators,  mvstagogues,  poets,  and 
philosophers,  to  frighten  the  people,  under  the 
false  assumption  of  making  them  better;  but  the 
truth  is  that  it  was  rather  to  keep  them  down  in 
subjection.  Those  terrifj'ing  pictures  were  painted 
on  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Delphos.  Those 
fables  were  repeated  to  infants  by  nurses  and 
mothers.  Thus  their  souls  grew  weak  and  pusil- 
lanimous, for  strong  and  durable  are  the  first  im- 
pressions, and  more  especially,  when  the  general 
opinion,  the  example  of  the  credulity  of  others, 
the  authority  of  philosophers,  of  poets,  of  learned 
Hierophants,  and  the  sight  of  pompous  rites,  and 
ceremonies  in  the  overpowering  sacredness  of  sanc- 
tuaries ',  when  the  monuments  of  arts,  music,  statues, 
and  pictures,  in  short,  when  all  tends  to  insinuate 
in  the  soul,  through  the  senses  stricken  with  hope 
and  terror,  a  great  error  presented  as  a  sacred  truth 
revealed  by  the  gods  themselves  for  man's  bliss. 

Such  was  the  general  teaching  and  belief  of  the 
Pagans  in  regard  to  future  punishment,  before  the 
coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  preaching  of  his 
Gospel. 

'  As  to  the  Jewish  nation,  not  the  slightest  ves- 
tiges of  any  kind  of  belief  regarding  future  pun- 
ishment, can  be  traced  out,  neither  in  the  Old 
Testament,  nor  in  Josephus,  nor  in  the  writings 
of  other  historians,  at  least  before  the  captivity 
of  Babylon,  which  took  place  in  the  year  598 
before  the  Christian  era.  Afterwards  the  Jews 
divided  into  four  sects,  the  Essenes,  the  Sadduceea, 


136  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

the  Samaritans,  who  denied  the  existence  of  any 
future  punishment,  and  the  Pharisees,  who,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  Josephus,  adopted  the 
behef  of  Metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of 
the  souls. 

ARTICLE   III. 

Did  the  Christians  of  the  First  Centuries  believe  in 
Endless  Hell? 
"We  emphatically  answer,  no.  If  the  Christian 
Fathers  of  the  first  centuries,  have  neither  taught 
the  dogma  of  endless  hell,  nor  mentioned,  in 
their  writings,  that  their  fellow-Christians  knew 
or  believed  it,  and  if  the  same  is  proved  by  the 
testimony  of  the  then  existing  Christian  sects  or 
denominations,  it  is  evident  that  the  first  Christians 
did  not  believe  in  endless  hell.  But  the  Christian 
Fathers  of  the  first  centuries  have  neither  taught 
the  dogma  of  endless  hell,  nor  mentioned,  in  their 
writings,  that  their  fellow-Christians  knew  or 
believed  it;  and  the  same  is  proved  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  then  existing  Christian  sects.  These 
two  members  of  the  proposition  we  are  to  suc- 
cessively prove :  1st  7nemher :  In  the  first  century 
the  four  Gospels,  and  other  books  of  the  ISTew 
Testament  were  written  by  the  apostles,  but  his- 
tory does  not  inform  us  of  any  other  Christian 
writing,  or  author,  in  that  age,  except  perhaps 
Clement,  bishop  of  Rome,  who,  it  is  said,  has 
left  a  letter  to  the  Corinthians:  critics  call  it 
Apocryphal.    We  have  not  read  it.     Therefore 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  137 

in  order  to  know  wliether  the  first  Christians 
beUeved  in  endless  hell  or  not,  we  must  recur  to 
the  works  of  the  Christian  Fathers  who  lived  and 
wrote  in  the  following  centuries,  and  particularly 
to  those  who  lived  and  wrote  during  the  second. 

St.  Ignatius,  bishop  of  Antioeh,  who  suffered 
martyrdom  at  Rome,  in  the  year  107,  was  the  first 
apostolic  Father  of  the  second  century.  There 
are  in  the  collection  of  the  works  of  the  holy 
Fathers,  six  letters  ascribed  to  him  by  some 
authors;  some  others,  Saumaise,  Blondel,  Bailie, 
etc.,  say  that  they  are  apocryphal.  Mosheim,  in 
his  Histor.  Christ.,  says,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  are  of  Ignatius  or  not.  We  have  read  those 
six  letters,  of  which  five  are  addressed  to  diflerent 
Churches,  and  one  to  Polycarpus.  Although  they 
treat  of  the  most  important  points  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  duties,  they  are  silent  upon  the 
question  of  endless  hell.  In  the  year  131,  St. 
Quadratus  presented  to  the  emperor  Adrian  an 
apology  of  the  Christian  religion,  which  contained 
the  principal  Christian  doctrines.  Adrian  was  so 
pleased  with  this  apology,  that,  if  we  must  believe 
what  Lampride  says  in  his  Life  of  Alexander 
Severus,  he  designed  to  rear  a  temple  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  place  him  among  the  gods  of  the 
empire.  A  fragment  of  this  apology  can  be  found 
in  the  works  of  Eusebe;  but  not  a  word  is  said 
about  the  do2:ma  of  endless  hell. 

St.  Justin,  a  Platonician  philosopher,  was  born 
at  is"aplou3e,  Palestine,  in  103.  He  was  converted 
12 


138  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

to  Christianity  in  133.  He  wrote  the  following 
works :  Exhortation  to  Gentiles ;  two  Apologies 
of  the  Christian  religion,  the  one  to  the  emperor 
Antonine,  and  the  other  to  the  emperor  Marcus- 
Aurelius  j  a  Dialogue  with  the  Jew  Triphon ;  a 
treatise  on  Monarchy,  or  Unity  of  God;  and  an 
Epistle  to  Diognet,  in  which  he  states  the  reasons 
why  Christians  left  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and 
did  not  adopt  that  of  the  Jews.  He  composed 
other  works,  but  they  exist  no  more.  The  main 
editions  of  his  works  are  those  of  Robert  Etienne 
in  1551  and  1771,  in  Greek  and  Latin;  that  of 
Commelin  in  1593,  in  Greek  and  Latin;  that  of 
Morel  in  1656,  and  that  of  Don  Maraud  in  1742, 
in  folio.  All  these  editions,  and  afterwards  that 
of  Migne,  we  have  compared  in  the  voluminous 
library  of  the  theological  seminary  of  Brou,  France, 
where  we  have  been  ordained  a  priest.  Although 
there  were  alterations  of  the  text,  we  did  not  find 
any  passage  referring  to  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 
True,  addressing  the  Romans,  he  says  :  "  Come,  O 
Romans,  to  find  instruction !  Formerly  I  was  like 
you,  now  be  what  I  am.  The  power  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  has  enlightened  me,  and  freed  me 
from  servitude  to  my  senses  and  passions :  it  has 
aiforded  me  peace  and  serenity.  The  soul  thus 
free  is  sure  to  reunite  to  her  Creator,  because  it  is 
right  that  she  return  to  him  from  whom  she  ema- 
nated." But  this  passage  neither  exj^licitly  nor 
implicitly  supposes  that  he  believed,  or  that  the 
first  Christians  believed,  in  endless  hell ;  it  is  sim- 


OF   ENDLESS    HELL.  139 

ply  a  Platonician  and  Christian  doctrine,  in  regard 
to  the  purity  of  our  soul  which  is  worthy  of  God 
only  when  unstained.  However  Bailly,  a  Catholic 
theologian,  says  that  on  page  74  of  the  first  Apol- 
ogy there  is  a  passage  proving  his  belief  in  endless 
hell.     We  did  not  find  it, 

Meliton,  bishop  of  Sardes,  Lybia,  under  the  reign 
of  Marcus-Aurelius,  presented  to  this  emperor  an 
Apology  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  171.  Eusebe 
and  several  other  authors  praise  it.  Only  a  few 
fragments  of  it  are  found  in  the  Bibliotheca  Pa- 
trum ;  in  none  of  them  is  a  q[uestion  of  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell. 

Athenagoras,  a  Platonician  philosopher,  was 
converted  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  presented, 
in  177,  an  Apology  of  the  Christian  doctrines  to  the 
emperors  Marcus-Aurelius  and  Lucius-Aurelius- 
Commode.  He  justified  the  Christians,  who  were 
charged  by  the  Pagans  with  atheism  :  with  sacri- 
ficing and  eating  a  child  in  their  assemblies ;  and 
with  indulging  to  impudicity.  In  this  Apology  he 
ascribed  to  God  but  a  general  providence ;  and  he 
expressed  the  Platonician  opinion,  that  angels,  or 
spirits,  had  the  government  of  this  world.  He 
admitted  that  there  were  pains  and  rewards  in  the 
future  life.  Let  us  not  infer  from  this  that  he 
referred  to  the  dogma  of  endless  hell.  l!^o;  he 
merely  meant,  by  those  pains  and  rewards,  the 
Platonician  doctrine  about  Metempsychosis. 

Ireneus  was  born  in  Greece,  in  140.  He  became 
bishop  of  Lyons,  Gaul.     He  wrote  several  theolog- 


140  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

ieal  works  in  the  Greek  language.  He  believed 
in  a  general  judgment,  and  in  the  millenium, 
namely,  in  a  temporal  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  on 
earth,  which  was  to  last  one  thousand  j'-ears  imme- 
diatelj''  before  the  general  judgment.  During  this 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Christians  were  to  enjoy 
a  happiness  which  was  to  be  a  foretaste  of  the 
happiness  they  should  enjoy  after  the  general  judg- 
ment. Not  only  this  Father  did  not  teach  the 
dogma  of  endless  hell,  but  according  to  the  ultra- 
montane Bergier,  he  has  been  charged  by  the  pre- 
tended Orthodox  divines  with  having  expressed 
himself  hi  an  heterodox  manner  upon  the  divinity 
of  the  Word ;  upon  the  spirituality  of  the  angels 
and  of  the  human  soul ;  upon  free  agency  and  the 
necessity  of  grace ;  and  upon  the  state  of  the  souls 
after  death.  He  seemed  to  be  inclined  to  believe 
Metempsychosis — this,  however,  is  our  private 
opinion,  resting  on  his  general  views  on  the  state 
of  the  souls  after  death.  The  Catholics  invoke 
but  one  passage  of  his  writings  against  this  opin- 
ion. Grabe,  a  Protestant,  published  at  Oxford,  in 
1702,  an  edition  of  his  works ;  it  is  quite  different 
from  the  Catholic  editions. 

Theophile  was  promoted  to  the  episcopal  see  of 
Antioch,  in  168.  We  have  from  his  pen  but  three 
Books  to  Autolic ;  they  have  been  edited  by  Don 
Prudent  Maraud.  He  is  the  first  Father  who  used 
the  word  Trinity.  His  works  are  a  refutation  of 
Paganism,  and  an  apology  of  Christianism.  We 
could  not  find  in  them  the  dogma  of  endless  hell ; 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  141 

he  only  vaguely  speaks  of  rewards  and  pains  here- 
after. 

"We  have  seen  that  the  ahove  Fathers,  who  com- 
pose the  complete  list  of  the  Fathers  of  the  second 
century,  neither  taught  the  dogma  of  endless  hell, 
nor  have  recorded  that  the  first  Christians  held 
6uch  a  dogma.  Therefore  we  may  draw  the  con- 
clusion that  the  first  Christians  did  not  believe  the 
doctrine  of  endless  hell. 

We  pass  to  the  Fathers  of  the  third  century. 
Titus  Flavins  Clement,  of  Alexandria,  a  Platoni- 
cian  philosopher,  became  a  Christian,  and  succeed- 
ed to  Pantenus,  a  professor  of  the  school  of  Alex- 
andria, in  190;  and  he  died  in  217.  Alexander  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  celebrated  Origen  were  his 
disciples.  He  wrote  many  works,  the  principal 
thereof  are :  Exhortations  to  Pagans ;  his  Peda- 
gogue ;  his  Hypotyposes ;  and  his  Stromatas,  which 
are  divided  into  eight  books.  It  is  said  tliat  the 
best  edition  of  his  works  is  that  of  Potter,  pub- 
lished at  Oxford,  in  1715,  in  two  vols,  folio.  I 
read  only  the  Paris  edition,  published  in  1696.  In 
his  Exhortations  to  Pagans,  he  pointed  out  the 
absurdity  of  idolatry,  and  of  the  fables  of  Pagan- 
ism. In  his  Stromatas  he  compared  the  doctrines 
of  the  philosophers  with  those  of  Jesus  Christ.  In 
the  treatise  headed.  Which  rich  man  will  be  saved? 
he  shows  that  he  who  will  use  his  riches  properly 
will  obtain  salvation :  he  does  not  say  salvation 
from  endless  hell.  His  Pedaorosrue  is  a  treatise  of 
morals  in  which  he  relates  how  the  first  Christiana 


142  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

rigliteously  lived  and  fervently  served  the  Lord. 
In  all  these  works  it  is  not  a  question  of  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell,  either  taught  to  the  Christians  or 
believed  by  them. 

According  to  Le  Clerc,  Beausobre,  d'Argens, 
Barbeyrac,  Scultet,  Daille,  Mosheim,  Brucker, 
Semler,  etc.,  this  Father  did  not  believe  the  spirit- 
uality of  God  and  of  man's  soul It  is  a  fact 

that,  in  his  Stromatas,  he  says  that  God  is  com- 
posed of  a  body  and  of  a  soul,  and  that  so  is  our 
soul.  He  believed  in  the  Pagan  fable  that  the 
angels  had  sexual  intercourse  with  human  females, 
and  had  begotten  giants ;  he  refers  probably  to  the 
Giants  who  had  fought  against  the  Titans.  All 
the  Catholic  theologians  themselves  admit  the 
above,  and  say,  that,  though  a  Christian,  he  was 
too  much  of  a  Platonician  philosopher.  This  is 
the  reason  why  the  Pope,  Benedict  XIV".,  opposed 
his  worship,  as  a  saint,  in  the  Romish  Church. 
These  statements  show  how  far  this  Father  was 
from  holding  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 

TertiiUian  was  one  of  the  Fathers  who  wrote  at 
the  end  of  the  second  century;  however,  as  he 
died  in  216,  we  class  him  among  the  Fathers  of 
the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  His  works 
are  on  Prayer,  on  Baptism;  also  he  wrote  Exhor- 
tation to  Patience ;  two  Books  to  his  Wife ;  Testi- 
mony of  the  Soul ;  treatises  on  Spectacles  and  Idol- 
atry; treatise  on  Prescription;  two  books  against 
the  Gentiles ;  one  against  the  Jews ;  one  against 
Hermogenes;  one  against  the  Valentinians ;  one 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  143 

against  tlie  Gnostics;  one  on  the  Crown;  one  to 
Scapula;  books  against  Praxeas;  books  on  Pudic- 
ity,  on  Persecutions,  on  Fast,  against  the  Physics, 
on  Monogamy.  These  works  we  had  not  the 
advantage  to  read;  but  we  have  studied  the  fol- 
lowing in  our  theological  school :  his  treatise  on 
Penance;  his  five  books  against  Marcion;  his 
treatise  on  the  Flesh  of  Jesus  Christ;  his  book  on 
the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh ;  and  his  Apology 
of  the  Christian  Relis-ion. 

In  these  works  which,  let  this  be  cursorily  said, 
were  written  in  Latin,  for  Tertullian  was  the  first 
Father  who  wrote  in  this  language,  we  read  several 
times  the  word  infenius,  synonimous  to  Tartarus, 
and  the  words  ignem  eiernurn,  used  in  speaking  of 
pains,  which  will  be  infiicted  upon  the  wicked 
after  the  general  judgment;  but  nothing  positive 
in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the  punishment,  for 
he  might  have  used  the  adjective  oetermim  hyper- 
bolical h^;  nor  anything  in  regard  to  the  belief  of 
the  first  Christians  in  regard  to  it,  nor  even  of  his 
cotemporaneous  Christians.  If  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell  had  been  generally  believed  by  the  Chris- 
tians, he  would  have  certainly  mentioned  it  in  his 
Apology  of  the  Christian  Religion ;  for  one  of  the 
main  charges  of  the  Pagans  against  them  was  that 
they  were  Atheists  ;  and  thereby  denied  the  Elysi- 
um and  the  Tartarus.  However,  in  no  one  of  the 
fifty  arguments  which  compose  the  Apology  does 
he  say  a  word  about  endless  hell,  even  about  any 
punishment  beyond  the  grave.     He  only,  in  the 


144  PAGAN   OKIGIN 

forty-eighth  argument,  says,  that  there  will  be  a 
resurrection  of  the  flesh. 

Sextus  Julius  Africanus,  a  Christian  historian, 
who  wrote  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  centur}^, 
is  altogether  silent  about  the  dogma  of  endless  hell, 
at  least  in  the  fragments  of  his  works  which  have 
been  preserved  by  Eusebe. 

Origeu  was  born  at  Alexandria,  in  185.  He  has 
been  one  of  the  most  talented  and  learned  among 
the  Fathers.  lie  wrote  the  following  works:  Ex- 
hortation to  Martyrdom ;  Commentaries  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  He  undertook  an  edition  of  the 
Bible  in  six  columns,  and  headed  it  Hexaples. 
The  first  column  contained  the  Hebrew  text  in 
hebraic  letters;  the  second,  the  same  text  in  Greek 
letters;  the  third  contained  the  version  of  Aquila; 
the  fourth  column,  the  version  of  Symmaque ;  the 
fifth,  that  of  the  Septuagint;  and  the  sixth,  that 
of  Theodotion.  He  considered  the  version  of  the 
Septuagint  as  the  most  authentical.  The  Octaples 
contained,  also,  two  Greek  versions,  which  had 
been  recently  found,  and  whose  authors  were  un- 
known. He  wrote  more  than  one  thousand  ser- 
mons ;  he  wrote  his  celebrated  work  about  Princi- 
ples, and  a  treatise  against  Celse. 

All  the  above  works  have  not  been  transmitted 
to  us  entire,  though  the  most  of  them  are,  as  can 
be  seen  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sanctorum  Patrum, 
published  in  Paris,  in  1826.  This  Catholic  edition, 
we  positively  know,  is  not  as  impartial  as  it  ought 
to  be.     So  much  has  been  written,  for  centuries, 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  145 

against  Origeii  and  for  his  justification,  that  a 
mere  summary  of  those  writings  would  fill  vol- 
umes. Besides,  would  we  make  this  summary  we 
might  perhaps  be  suspected  of  partiality,  because 
Ori^en's  doctrines  are  favorable  to  the  bearing  of 
this  work;  therefore  we  shall  extract  from  the 
works  of  Feller,  a  Romish  priest  and  a  Jesuit, 
what  we  have  to  write  about  his  accusation  and 
justification,  and  about  the  summar}-  of  his  doc- 
trines. 

Feller  says.  Article  Origen :  "In  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, the  Arians  invoked  his  authority  to  prove 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  God.  St.  Athanase,  St- 
Basile,  and  St-  Gregory  of  N"azianze,  defended 
Mm.  Hilaire,  Tite  de  Bostres,  Didyme,  Ambro- 
sius,  Eusebe  of  Vereeil,  and  Gregory  of  ISTysse 
have  laudably  spoken  of  his  works ;  whereas, 
Theodor  of  .Mopsueste,  ApoUinary,  and  Cesary, 
have  disparagingly  wi'itten  of  them.  Origen  was 
condemned  in  the  fifth  general  council,  held  at 
Constantinople,  in  553.  The  pope  Vigil  con- 
demned him  anew.  SL  Epiphane,  Anastase  the 
Sinaite,  St.  John  Cliraaque,  Leonce  of  Byzantium, 
Sophronius,  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  Antipater, 
bishop  of  Bostres,  violently  denounced  his  wri- 
tings; the  pope  Pelage  IL  said  that  heretical  works 
were  not  worse  than  Origeu's  writings.  There 
are,  in  the  acts  of  the  sixth  council,  an  edict  of  the 
emperor  Constautine  Pogonat,  and  a  letter  of  the 
pope  Leon  IL,  in  which  he  is  counted  with  Didyme 
and  Evagrius  among  the  Theomaques,  or  enemies 
of  God. 

13 


146  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

"The  pope  St.  Martin  I.,  anathematized  him 
in  the  first  council  of  Latran,  in  649.  St.  Augus- 
tine, St.  John  of  Damas,  and  St.  Jerome,  wrote 
against  the  Origenists,  namely,  the  sect  of  Chris- 
tians who  believed  the  doctrines  of  Origen.  In 
the  same  century,  when  a  dispute  arose  about  the 
orthodoxy  of  Origen,  John  of  Jerusalem,  and 
Rufin  made  his  apology,  and  St.  John  Chrysos- 
tomus  did  the  same.  St.  Pamphyle  also  took  his 
part.  Theotime  of  Tomi  refused  to  coudenm  him, 
and  Didyme  tried  to  give  an  orthodox  meaning  to 
his  doctrine  on  Trinity;  others  in  condemning  the 
errors  contained  in  his  books  pretended  that  they 
had  been  added  by  the  heretics.  Theophile  of 
Alexandria  accused  the  monks  of  Nitria  of  Ori- 
genism,  and  condemned  them  in  a  council  held  at 
Alexandria ;  the  pope  Anastasius  ratitied  the 
sentence.  In  the  seventh  century,  the  emperor 
Justinian  declared  himself  hostile  to  the  memory 
of  Origen;  wrote  a  letter  to  Memnas  against  his 
doctrine;  issued  an  edict  against  him,  in  040;  and 
obtained  his  condemnation  in  a  council  held  the 
same  year  at  Constantinople,  whose  acts  were 
added  to  those  of  the  fifth  general  council." 

"We  read  in  the  acts  of  the  fifth  general  council 
of  Constantinople,  held  in  553,  that  Origen  was 
condemned  by  the  council  for  having  taught  the 
following  doctrines:  1st,  That  in  the  dogma  of 
Trinity  the  Father  is  greater  than  the  Son,  and 
the  Son  greater  than  the  Holy  Spirit.  2c],  That 
human  souls  have  been  created  before  the  bodies, 


*        OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  147 

to  which  they  have  been  chained  as  a  punishment 
for  sins,  which  they  had  committed  in  an  anterior 
state  of  existence.  3d,  That  the  soul  of  Jesus 
Christ  had  been  united  to  the  AYord  before  his 
incarnation.  4th,  That  the  planets  and  stars  are 
animated,  and  contain  a  soul  intelligent  and  en- 
dowed with  reason.  5th,  That,  after  the  resurrec- 
tion, all  bodies  will  have  a  spheroidal  shape.  6th, 
That  the  jyunishment  of  the  wicked  in  a  future  life 
loill  not  he  endless;  and  that  Jesus  Christ,  who  has 
been  crucified  to  save  the  world,  will  be  crucified 
once  more  to  save  the  devils. 

According  to  this  testimony  of  the  Romish 
Church — which  carries  fanaticism  farther  than 
any  other  sect,  in  regard  to  the  dogma  of  endless 
hell,  for  it  holds  as  an  article  of  faith  even  that 
the  reprobates  are  tortured  in  hell,  in  their  bodies 
and  in  their  souls,  though  their  bodies  are  in  the 
grave,  and  though  a  material  fire  cannot  burn  an 
immortal  soul — according  to  the  above  testimonj 
of  the  Romish  Church,  we  say,  it  is  an  established, 
an  undeniable  fact,  that  Origen  taught  the  doc- 
trine .of  Metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of  the 
Bouls ;  and  also  the  doctrine  that  the  punishment 
of  the  wicked  in  a  future  Hfe  would  not  be  end- 
less. 

From  this  testimony  we  draw  the  following 
argument,  which  we  invite  the  reader  to  atten- 
tively examine,  and  to  carefully  weigh,  for  this 
argument,  alone,  would  unanswerably  prove  that 
the  Christians  of  the  first,  of  the  second,  of  the 


148  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

third,  and  even  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the  fifth  cen- 
turies, did  not  generally  believe  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell. 

Argument:  In  the  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, Origen  (he  was  born  in  185)  taught  the  doc- 
trine of  Metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of  the 
souls,  and  the  doctrine  that  tlie  punishment  of  the 
wicked  in  a  future  life  would  not  be  endless ;  these 
two  doctrines  were  condemned  only  in  the  sixth 
century  by  the  fiftli  general  council  held  at  Con- 
stantinople, in  553,  and  composed  of  151  bishops. 
But  if  the  Christians  of  the  first,  of  the  second, 
of  the  third,  and  even  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the 
fifth  centuries,  had  generally  believed  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell,  the  above  two  doctrines  would 
have  certainly  been  condemned  before  the  sixth 
century.     This  minor  proposition  we  prove : 

By  the  orders  of  the  bishop  of  Eome,  Sylvester, 
and  of  the  emperor  Constantine  I.,  an  oecumenical 
council,  composed  of  381  bishops,  was  held  at 
Nice,  in  325,  to  frame  a  symbol  of  faith,  and  to 
condemn  Arius. 

In  381,  a  second  general  council,  composed  of 
150  bishops,  was  held  at  Constantinople,  to  con- 
demn Macedonius,  who  denied  the  divinity  of 
the  Holy  S]oirit ;  and  to  alter  the  symbol  of  ISTice, 
(striking  inconsistency  of  the  Romish  Church 
which  holds  as  an  article  of  faith  that  a  general 
council  is  infallible  in  its  decisions.) 

In  431,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  Celestine  I.,  assem- 
bled a  general  council  at  Ephesus,  to  obtain  the 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  149 

condemnation  of  ISTestorius,  who  denied  that  Mary 
waSj  strictly  speaking,  the  mother  of  God. 

In  451,  a  general  council  was  held  at  Chalce- 
dony, Asia  Minor,  for  the  condemnation  of 
Eutyches,  and  of  Dioscorus,  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
who  held  the  doctrine  that  there  was  in  Jesus 
Christ  but  one  nature. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  the 
time  when  Origen  taught  the  above  two  doctrines, 
up  to  the  year  553,  several  thousand  synods  and 
principal  councils  were  held. 

Thereupon  we  say :  The  doctrine  of  Metempsy- 
chosis, or  transmigration  of  the  souls;  and  the 
doctrine  that  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  in  a 
future  life  will  not  be  endless,  were  as  important 
as  the  most  of  the  doctrines  discussed  in  those 
councils;  and  Origen  had  a  weightier  influence 
upon  the  Christian  communities  by  Ms  talents, 
learning,  virtue,  and  fame,  and  by  the  ditiusion  of 
'his  works,  than  Arius,  Macedouius,  JSTestorius, 
Eutiches,  Dioscorus  and  others  put  together. 
Therefore,  if  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  had  been 
generally  believed  by  the  Christians  of  the  first, 
of  the  second,  of  the  third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of 
the  fifth  centuries,  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis, 
and  the  doctrine  that  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  in  a  future  life  will  not  be  endless,  held 
0,nd  taught  by  Origen,  would  have  been  called  up, 
discussed,  and  condemned  in  the  above  councils. 
But  they  were  called  up,  discussed,  and  condemned, 
only  in  the  fifth  general  council,  held  at  Constan- 


150  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

tinople,  in  553.  Therefore,  it  is  an  irrefutable 
fact  that  the  Christians  of  the  first,  of  the  second, 
of  the  third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the  fifth  centu- 
ries, did  not  generally  believe  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell. 

Gregory  of  N'eocesaree,  was  a  disciple  of  Origen, 
and  was  promoted  to  the  episcopal  see  of  ISTeo- 
cesaree,  in  240.  He  wrote  the  following  works  : 
Thanks  to  Origen,  Profession  of  Faith  on  the 
Dogma  of  Trinity,  Canonical  Epistle,  and  Para- 
phrase of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.  In  these 
works  the  spirit  of  the  doctrines  of  Origen  is  seen 
at  every  page ;  and  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  is 
neither  taught,  nor  declared  to  have  been  the 
belief  of  the  first  Christians,  nor  of  the  Christians 
of  the  third  centur3^  St.  Cyprian,  made  bishop 
of  Carthage  in  248,  is  silent  about  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell. 

"VVe  pass  to  the  Fathers  of  the  fourth  century. 

Pamphile  Eusebe  obtained  the  bishopric  of 
Cesarea  in  313.  He  wrote  the  Panegyric,  and  the 
Life  of  Constantine  ;  a  Chronicle,  viz  :  a  compila- 
tion of  Pagan  authors,  and  several  other  works, 
whose  fragments  have  remained.  His  principal 
work  is  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  which  we  have 
studied  in  our  theological  school.  If  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell  had  been  the  belief  of  the  first 
Christians,  and  had  been  generally  believed  in  his 
age,  he  would  have  certainly  mentioned  it  therein: 
however,  he  has  not.  Therefore,  the  first  Chris- 
tians, and  those  of  his  age,  did  not  hold  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell. 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  151 

Athanase  succeeded  to  Alexander  on  the  episco- 
pal see  of  Alexandria,  in  326.  His  works  are  : 
Defense  of  Trinity  and  of  Incarnation;  apologies; 
letters ;  and  treatises  against  the  Arians,  the 
Melecians,  the  Apollinarists,  and  the  Macedonians. 
In  these  works  there  is  not  a  word  concerning  the 
dogma  of  endless  hell  being  believed  by  the  first 
Christians,  or  by  his  cotemporaries.  The  famous 
symbol  which  is  headed  symbol  of  Athanase, 
which  the  Romish  priests  read  every  Sunday  in 
the  Psalms-Breviary,  is  not  from  his  composition 
nor  from  his  pen ;  every  one  of  the  Catholic 
theologians  and  authors  confesses  it. 

Basile,  bishop  of  Cesarea,  was  born  in  329.  He 
has  left  several  letters,  homilies,  treatises  of  morals, 
and  sermons  on  the  six  days  of  the  creation.  We 
have  examined  the  Latin  edition  of  his  works,  or 
rather  of  the  fragments  of  his  works,  for  they  are 
not  entire,  by  Don  Gamier  and  Don  Prudent ;  but 
though  in  many  passages  he  speaks  of  salvation, 
of  eternal  bliss,  and  of  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  hereafter,  he  does  not  positively  declare 
that  the  punishment  will  be  endless  ;  and  he  does 
not  say  that  the  first  Christians  believed  it,  nor 
that  it  was  a  dogma  of  the  Church  in  his  age. 
Theodor  of  Mopsueste,  who  wrote  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, is  charged  by  the  Catholic  writers  to  have 
taught  that  future  punishment  will  not  be  endless. 

Since  that  time,  down  to  the  sixth  century,  the 
question  of  the  eternal  duration  of  the  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked  in  a  place  called  hell,  was  dis- 


152  PAGAN   OKIGm 

cnssed  bj  the  ecclesiastical  writers,  wLo,  nerer- 
theless,  did  not  assert  that  it  was  the  belief  of  the 
first  Christians.  Ambrosius  supposed  that  it 
would  be  infinite  in  duration;  so  Augustine,  his 
disciple,  wrote  in  his  work,  De  Ci\'itate  Dei,  book 
21;  St.  Fulgence;  the  pope  Gregorius,  etc.  The 
opinion  of  those  leading  doctors  was  preached, 
and,  little  by  little,  it  became  the  belief  of  a  large 
number  of  Christians.  They  even  designated  the 
place  where  hell  was  :  some  thought  it  was  in  the 
profundities  of  the  earth ;  Augustine  opposed 
them;  then  he  recanted  himself,  and  agreed  that 
it  was  there.  Finally,  in  553,  a  general  council 
was  held  in  Constantinople,  and  it  was  decided 
that  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  shall  be  henceforth 
an  article  of  faith.  It  was  only  many  years  after 
that  this  council  was  considered  oecumenical. 

We  have  proved  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers  themselves,  that  the  Christians  of  the  first, 
of  the  second,  of  the  third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of- 
the  fifth  centuries,  did  not  believe  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell ;  we  shall  now  prove  it  by  the  various 
Christian  sects,  which  existed,  and  were  organized 
religious  denominations,  in  those  centuries. 

Lest  we  might  be  suspected  of  partiality  in  the 
exposition  of  the  belief  of  those  Christian  sects  in 
regard  to  future  punishment,  we  will  exclusively 
make  our  extracts  from  the  works  of  Bergier, 
Feller,  and  other  Catholic  theologians  and  histo- 
rians. 

The  Cerinthians  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  153 

endless  hell.  The  Basilidians  believed  in  Me- 
tempsychosis, or  transmigration  of  the  souls.  In 
consequence  they  did  not  hold  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell.  Eusebe  inforats  us,  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
History,  that  Basilide  had  written  on  the  four 
Gospels  twenty-four  books ;  and  that  his  sect  was 
numerous.     It  flourished  till  the  fourth  century. 

The  Millenaries,  who  existed  mainly  in  the 
second  and  third  centuries,  believed  that  Jesus 
Christ  would  soon  come  from  heaven,  to  reign  one 
thousand  years  over  the  righteous;  that  this  reign 
would  be  temporal ;  and  that  it  would  be  followed 
by  a  general  judgment:  but  they  did  not  hold  that 
future  punishment  would  be  endless,  for  they  were 
silent  about  its  nature. 

The  Marcionites  believed  in  a  good  principle, 
God,  and  in  a  bad  one,  the  Devil ;  the  latter  had. 
created  our  body.  Jesus  Christ  had  but  an 
apparent  flesh.  Our  body  should  not  come  again 
to  hfe ;  they  believed  like  Pythagoras,  of  whom 
Marcion  was  a  follower,  in  the  doctrine  of  Me- 
tempsychosis :  such  was  their  belief.  They  made 
so  many  proselytes,  that,  even  in  the  fifth  century, 
their  sect  was  numerous  in  Italy,  in  Egypt,  in 
Palestine,  in  Syria,  in  Arabia,  in  Persia,  and  in 
other  oriental  countries. 

The  Valentinians  held  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not 
God ;  that  he  had  redeemed  the  world  only  from 
sin,  by  freeing  men  of  the  empire  of  evil  Eons,  or 
geniuses,  who  had  the  government  of  the  universe. 
They  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis, 


154       '  PAGAN   OEIGIN 

or  transmigration  of  the  souls.  In  consequence, 
tliey  neither  knew  nor  beheved  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell.  Valentin  had  an  immense  number  of 
disciples,  and  his  sect  spread  in  Asia,  and  in  Africa; 
in  Europe  it  extended  as  far  as  Gaul,  where,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  Irene  us,  bishop  of 
Lyons,  the  Valentinians  were  very  numerous. 

The  Marcosians  formed  a  numerous  religious 
body  towards  the  end  of  the  second  century. 
Their  sect  spread  as  far  as  Gaul.  They  believed 
the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis. 

The  Theodotians  and  the  Artemonians,  in  the 
second  century,  professed  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  God,  and  believed  in  Metempsychosis. 

The  Carpocratians  believed  in  the  pre-existence 
of  the  souls,  and  taught  that  they  had  sinned  in 
an  anterior  state  of  existence;  that,  as  a  punish- 
ment for  those  crimes,  they  had  been  condemned 
to  animate  other  bodies,  and  would  pass  into  other 
bodies  as  long  as  they  would  not  have  been  suf- 
ficiently purified  by  this  expiation.  They  denied 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  belief  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  Carpocrate,  of  Alex- 
andria, founded  this  sect  in  the  second  century. 

The  Docetes  professed  the  same  belief  as  the 
Carpocratians,  with  the  difl'erence  that  they  did 
not  admit  that  Jesus  Christ  had  a  natural  body. 
They  had  exactly  the  same  belief  in  regard  to 
Metempsychosis.  This  sect  existed  in  the  second 
century.  The  Patripassians,  the  ISToetians,  the 
Praxeans,  and  the  Sabelliaus  have  been  silent  on 
the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 


OF   ENDLESS   HELL.  155 

Tatian,  one  of  tlie  most  prominent  ecclesiastical 
writers  of  the  second  century,  established  the 
sect  of  the  Tatianists,  who  believed  that  Jesus 
Christ  had  not  really  suffered,  and  that  he  had 
not  redeemed  the  world  by  his  blood.  They  also 
held  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis.  Of  the 
many  works  of  Tatian  we  have  only  his  Discourse 
against  the  Pagans,  and  his  Diatessaron. 

Apelles  established  a  sect  of  his  name,  in  145. 
The  Apellites  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ; 
believed  in  Metempsychosis ;  and  also  that  God 
had  entrusted  a  spirit  of  fire  to  create  the  world. 

In  the  second  century,  Montan,  a  native  of 
Ardaban,  in  Mysia,  established  the  sect  of  the 
Montanists,  which  split  and  ramified  into  the 
Artotyrites,  the  Ascites,  Ascodrutes,  etc.  They 
all  believed  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis. 

The  Ophites,  a  sect  of  the  second  century,  pro- 
fessed that  the  world  had  been  created,  and  was 
governed  by  evil  Eons  or  geniuses,  and  that  God 
had  sent  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  to  oppose  the  evil 
geniuses.  They  held  the  doctrine  of  Metempsy- 
chosis. 

In  the  second  century  the  sect  of  the  Cainites 
denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  believed 
in  Metempsychosis. 

The  above  sects  compose  the  large  body  of 
Christians  in  the  second  century ;  and  yet  we  do 
not  find  in  their  doctrines  anything  like  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell.  They  all,  except  perhaps  the 
Millenaries,  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Metempsy- 


156  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

chosis.  And  as  those  extracts  are  from  Roman 
Catholic  authors,  who  had  the  greatest  interest  in 
disguising  the  true  doctrines  of  those  sects,  it  fol- 
lows that  it  is  an  undeniable  fact,  that  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  second  century  neither  did  believe 
nor  knew  any  thing  about  such  a  dogma  as  end- 
less hell. 

Corollary.  Since  the  Christians  of  the  second 
century  neither  believed  the  dogma  of  endless 
hell,  nor  knew  anything  about  it,  therefore  the 
Christians  of  the  first  century  neither  believed 
this  dogma,  nor  knew  anything  about  it ;  for  had 
they  believed  it,  or  known  any  thing  about  it,  the 
Christians  of  the  second  century  would  have  pre- 
served that  belief,  or  at  least  would  have  men- 
tioned it.  Consequently,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact 
that  the  Christians  of  the  first  century  were  not 
taught  by  the  apostles  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 

Let  us  examine,  now,  the  doctrines  of  the  vari- 
ous Christian  sects,  which  sprung  up  in  the  third 
century. 

Tertullian,  one  of  the  Fathers  of  whom  we  have 
spoken  above,  had  joined  the  Montauist  sect ;  but 
afterwards  he  disagreed  with  them,  and  he  founded, 
at  about  the  fifth  year  of  the  third  century,  another 
sect,  called  Tertullianists.  This  sect  lived  several 
centuries,  for  in  the  time  of  St.  Augustine,  towards 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  they  had  a  denom- 
inational organization  at  Carthage,  Africa.  Prob- 
ably they  held  the  same  belief  as  Tertullian,  in 
regard  to  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  157 

The  nermogenians  believed  that  the  earth  and 
the  whole  universe  have  been  uncreated,  and  are 
eternal.  Hermogene  said :  "  God  has  either  taken 
evil  from  himself,  or  from  nothing,  or  from  a  pre- 
existing matter.  He  could  not  take  evil  from  him- 
self, for  he  is  indivisible ;  and,  besides,  evil  could 
not  abide  in  a  being  infinitely  perfect.  He  could 
not  take  evil  from  nothing,  for  in  this  case  it 
would  have  been  in  his  power  not  to  produce  it ; 
therefore,  evil  is  derived  from  a  matter  pre-existing, 
co-eternal  to  God,  and  the  defects  of  which  God 
could  not  amend."  The  Ilermogenians  believed 
in  Metempsychosis.  Their  sect  spread  more  par- 
ticularly in  Galatia. 

Eerylle,  bishop  of  Ostres,  in  Arabia,  established, 
in  207,  the  sect  of  the  Arabics.  They  believed 
that  the  soul  was  born  and  died  with  the  hody, 
and  that  both  would  come  again  to  life.  Origen 
wrote  against  this  belief,  and  converted  the  most 
of  them  to  his  opinions.  As  Origen  thought  and 
taught  that  the  punishment  of  the  Avicked  would 
not  be  endless,  and  that  the  souls  transmigrated, 
we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  Arabics  eml)raced 
his  opinions. 

The  IsTovatians  were  organized  into  a  sect  by 
Novat  and  Xovatian,  priests  of  the  Church  of 
Carthage.  We  have  perused  the  treatises  on 
Trinity  and  on  the  Viands,  written  by  ISTovatian, 
whose  fragments  are  found  in  the  works  of  Ter- 
tullian ;  but  we  have  found  no  opinion  expressed 
in  regard  to  the  dogma  of  endless  hell.     We  heard 


158  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

since  that  there  is  a  complete  edition  of  his  works, 
pubhshecl  in  1728,  by  Jackson,  at  London  :  we 
have  not  been  able  to  obtain  it. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Epiphane,  the 
Valesians  held  many  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gnostics.  From  this  we  may  safely  infer  that  they 
believed  in  Metempsychosis.  Tillemont,  in  his. 
Memoirs  for  the  Ecclesiastical  History,  tome  3d,, 
says  that  the  Yalesians  sprung  up  in  240.  St. 
Epiphane  and  Tillemont  are  the  only  authors  who 
have  referred  to  them  in  their  writings. 

The  Samosatians,  whose  chief  was  Paul  of 
Samosate,  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  professed  that  the 
three  persons  of  the  Trinity  were  not  three  Gods, 
but  three  attributes,  under  which  God  has  mani- 
fested himself  to  men  ;  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not 
a  God,  but  a  man  to  whom  wisdom  had  been 
extraordinarily  given.  "VYe  did  not  find  any  thing 
in  the  Ecclesiastical  History  in  regard  to  their 
doctrines  about  future  punishment.  However,  as 
they  considered  Jesus  Christ  only  as  an  extraordi- 
nary man,  it  is  most  probable  that  they  kept  the . 
immemorially,  and,  even  then,  generally  believed 
doctrine  of  Metempsychosis.  This  sect  was  estab- 
lished in  260.  The  famous  Zenobia,  who  then 
reigned  in  Syria,  and  believed  the  Jewish  religion, 
was  converted  to  this  sect. 

Manes  was  born  in  Persia,  in  240.  He  was  the 
father  of  the  sect  of  the  Manicheans.  "We  shall 
give  a  summary  of  their  doctrines,  and  as  their 
sect  has  been  one  of  the  most  numerous,  one  of 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  159 

the  most  widely  spread,  aud  one  whose  denomi- 
national organization  seems  to  have  outlived 
nearly  all  those  of  the  first  centuries,  we  will  add 
a  summary  of  their  history.  We  will  find  in 
their  doctrines,  and  in  their  history,  a  weighty 
proof  that  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  was  not  gen- 
erally believed  by  the  Christians  of  the  first  five 
centuries,  to  say  the  least. 

To  remove  the  least  shadow  of  doubt  about  our 
impartiality,  we  continue,  as  done  before,  to  take 
our  extracts  from  Roman  Catholic  authors,  who 
had  an  interest  to  make  it  appear  that  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell  was  co-eval  to  the  apostles. 

We  extract  from  Cotelier,  a  Roman  Catholic 
author,  tome  1,  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  page 
543,  and  following,  these  doctrines  of  the  Mani- 
cheans : 

In  their  opinion,  the  souls,  or  sj)irits,  are  an 
emanation  from  the  good  spirit,  whom  they  con- 
sidered as  an  uncreated  light ;  and  all  bodies  have 
been  formed  by  the  bad  principle,  whom  they 
called  Satan,  and  the  power  of  darkness.  They 
held  that  there  are  portions  of  light  enclosed 
within  all  the  bodies  of  the  universe,  and  that 
they  give  them  motion  and  life,  wherefore  those 
souls  cannot  reunite  to  the  good  principle,  except 
when  they  have  been  purified  by  the  means  of 
various  transmigrations  from  one  body  into  an- 
other. They  denied  the  future  resurrection  of  the 
body. 

It  is  therefore   evident  that    the   Manieheana 


160  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

either  knew  notliing  about  tlie  dogma  of  endless 
hell,  or  did  not  believe  it. 

From  the  year  285  to  the  year  491,  the  Mani- 
cheaus  were  persecuted.  The  emperors  of  Orient 
confiscated  their  property,  and  decreed  the  pen- 
alty of  death  against  them.  Thousands  of  them 
died  in  the  most  cruel  tortures,  rather  than  to  give 
up  their  faith ;  we  read  even  in  our  days,  in  the 
Theodosian  code,  the  laAvs  enacted  against  them. 
Despite  those  persecutiojis  they  rapidly  and  widely 
spread.  In  the  fourth  century  St.  Augustine  was 
converted  to  their  sect,  but  he  afterwards  left 
them,  and  became  their  most  powerful  opponent. 
They  formed  a  large  body  in  Africa.  In  491,  the 
mother  of  the  emperor  Anastase,  who  was  a  Man- 
ichean,  obtained  the  suspension  of  the  laws  en- 
acted against  them.  They  were  allowed,  during 
twenty-seven  years,  to  have  churches,  and  to  freely 
worship;  but  during  the  reign  of  Justin,  and 
under  his  successors,  they  were  again  forbidden 
it.  Towards  the  cud  of  the  seventh  century,  the 
famous  Gallinice,  who  was  a  Manichean,  brought 
up  her  two  sons,  Paul  and  John,  in  her  belief,  and 
sent  them  to  Armenia  as  missionaries.  Paul  made 
so  many  proselytes  that  the  new  converts  took  the 
name  of  Paulicians. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  the 
Paulicians  split ;  but  soon  after  they  reunited,  at 
the  persuasion  of  one  of  their  most  influential  mem- 
bers, named  Theodote.  The  aversion  of  the  Man- 
icheans  for  the  worship  of  the  vii'gin  Mary,  of 


OF  ENDLESS  HELL.  161 

tlie  ci'oss,  of  the  saints,  and  of  images,  pleased 
the  Saracens,  who  made  frequent  irruptions  in 
the  empire:  through  their  influence  they  obtained 
more  credit  among  their  opponents. 

In  the  year  841,  the  empress  Theodora,  who 
had  declared  herself  in  favor  of  the  worship  of 
the  virgin  Mary,  of  the  cross,  of  the  saints,  and 
of  images,  went  so  far  in  her  fanatical  zeal  for 
this  doctrine,  that  she  resolved  to  exterminate  the 
Manicheans,  and  their  religion.  By  her  orders 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand  of  them  were 
arrested  and  put  to  death;  nearly  all  expired  in 
the  most  cruel  tortures.  Then  the  Manicheans 
sought  a  refuge  among  the  Saracens;  they  re- 
tired in  fortified  towns,  repelled  the  repeated 
assaults  of  the  imperial  armies,  and  maintained 
themselves  during  about  forty  years ;  but  having 
been  defeated  in  a  great  battle  they  were  forced 
to  disperse. 

Some  went  to  Bulgaria,  and  since  took  the  name 
of  Bulgarians;  others  went  to  Italy,  and  mainly 
settled  in  Lombardy,  wherefrom  they  sent  mis- 
sionaries to  France,  to  Germany,  and  to  other 
countries.  In  the  year  1022,  under  the  king 
Robert,  several  canons  of  Orleans,  who  had  joined 
the  Manicheans,  were  burnt  alive.  Although  the 
penalty  of  death  had  been  decreed  against  the 
Manicheans,  they  established  a  largo  number  of 
convents  all  over  France,  and  particular!}^  in  the 
provinces  of  Provence,  of  Languedoc,  and,  more 
especially,  in  the  diocese  of  Albi,  where  they  took 
the  name  of  Albigensea. 
14 


162  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Alanus,  monk  of  Citeaux,  and  Peter,  monk  of 
Vaux-Cernay,  who  wrote  against  them,  accused 
them,  1st,,  of  admitting  two  principles  or  creators, 
the  one  good  and  the  other  bad ;  the  first,  creator 
of  invisible  and  spiritual  things,  and  the  second, 
creator  of  bodies.  2d,  Of  denying  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body.  3d,  Of  denying  the  Purgatory. 
4th,  Of  denying  the  utility  of  prayers  for  the 
dead.  5th,  Of  denying  the  pains  of  hell.  6th, 
Of  believing  the  transmigration  of  the  souls  into 
other  bodies  of  men,  or  of  animals,  according  to 
the  degree  of  their  guilt  in  an  anterior  state  of 
existence,  until  by  successive  expiatory  transmi- 
grations they  become  purified.  7th,  Of  disbeliev- 
ing the  seven  sacraments.  8th,  Of  rejecting  the 
worship  of  the  virgin  !Mary,  of  the  cross,  of  the 
saints,  and  of  images,  etc. 

In  1176,  the  council  of  Albi,  Avhich  some 
authors  call  council  of  Lombez,  was  held  against 
the  Manicheans,  who,  as  said  above,  were  called 
Albigenses.  In  this  council  they  were  condemned 
under  the  calling  of  Good  Men.  Fleury,  who,  in 
the  seventy-second  book  of  his  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, quotes  the  acts  of  the  council,  ascribes  to 
them  the  above  doctrines;  so  does  the  historian 
Rainerius;  and  Bossuet,  in  the  ninth  book  of  his 
History  of  Variations,  cites  other  authors  who 
confirm  all  these  accusations.  The  condemnation 
of  the  Manicheans,  or  Albigenses,  was  confirmed 
by  the  general  council  of  Latran,  in  1179.  A  cru- 
sade was  ordered  against  them  by  the  Pope,  In  no- 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  163 

cent  III.,  and  a  strict  inquisition  was  organized. 
Simon,  count  of  Montford,  was  appointed,  by  the 
Pope,  general-in-chief  of  the  crusaders;  then  the 
slaughter  commenced.  It  lasted  eighteen  years : 
the  Albigenses,  or  Manicheans,  were  exterminated, 
a  few  only  secretly  found  their  way  to  the  Alps, 
where  they  concealed  themselves,  and  afterwards 
united  to  the  Valdenses.  Several  hundred  thou- 
sands were  either  burnt  alive,  or  tortured  on 
racks,  or  put  to  the  sword ;  all  were  slain :  men, 
old  men,  young  men,  women,  children,  and 
infants;  and  during  those  horrible  ceremonies  of 
death,  the  soldiers  of  the  Pope  sung  the  Veni 
Creator  Spiritus,  etc.,  a  hymn  of  invocation  to 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

From  the  doctrines  and  history  of  the  Mani- 
cheans we  draw  the  following  argument : 

According  to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the 
Koman  Catholic  authors  themselves,  from  about 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  to  the  thirteenth, 
the  Manicheans  composed  a  numerous  bod}^  of 
Christians,  and  did  not  believe  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell.  So  constant  were  they  in  this  disbelief, 
that  they  persisted  in  it  till  nearly  every  one  of 
them  was  exterminated;  therefore  it  is  an  undenia- 
ble historical  fact  that  this  large  denomination  of 
Christians  did  not  hold  the  dogma  of  hell,  in  the 
third,  fourth,  fifth,  etc.,  centuries. 

Let  us  examine  the  doctrine  of  the  Christian 
sects,  which  sprung  up  in  the  fourth  century,  in 
regard  to  endless  hell.  We  continue  to  take  our 
extracts  from  Roman  CathoHc  authors. 


164  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Priscillian,  a  Spaniard,  was  tlie  founder  of  the 
Christian  sect  of  Priscillianists,  in  the  year  380, 
This  denomination  of  Christians  beUeved  in  the 
doctrine  of  Metemps^^chosis.  They  held  that  the 
souls  passed  into  the  bodies  of  other  men,  until  they 
were  purified,  by  their  transmigrations,  of  the  sins 
they  liad  committed  in  an  anterior  life.  They 
denied  the  resurrection  of  human  bodies.  Priscil- 
lian  was  condemned  to  death,  and  the  penalty  of 
death  was  decreed  against  the  Priscillianists.  The 
emperor  ]Maxime,  and  the  pope  Leon,  used  fire, 
racks,  and  swords  against  them ;  they  slew  thou- 
sands of  them,  nevertheless  they  increased  so  that 
they  were  numerous  yet  in  the  sixth  century  in 
Spain  and  in  Italy.  Tillemont,  in  his  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Memoir,  tome  8,  refers  to  Sulpice-Severe,  to 
Ambrosius,  and  to  St.  Augustine,  for  the  confir- 
mation of  the  above,  said  concerning  the  doctrines 
of  the  Priscillianists. 

The  other  principal  sects  of  the  fourth  century 
were  the  Donatists,  the  Photinians,  the  Macedoni- 
ans, the  Apollinarists,  the  Jovinians,  the  Colly- 
ridians.  and  the  Pelagians.  The  ISTestorians,  the 
Eutichians,  and  the  Monothelites,  sprang  up  in  the 
fifth  centur}'.  We  have  not  found  in  their  writ- 
ings any  passages  referring  to  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell.  However  we  must  state  that  we  had  the 
opportunity  of  perusing  only  about  two-thirds  of 
the  numerous  and  voluminous,  we  would  add  te- 
dious, works  composed  pro  and  con  concerning 
their  respective  tenets. 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  165 

Remark. — Let  the  reader  bear  iu  mind  that  the 
most  of  the  Christian  sects,  whose  disbeUef  of  the 
dogma  of  eudless  hell  we  have  traced  out  above, 
composed  the  majority  of  the  Christian  body;  and 
also  that  they  have  existed,  at  least,  till  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  the  epoch  when  the  fifth 
council  of  Constantinople  condemned  the  doctrine 
held  by  Origen — that  of  the  transmigration  of  the 
souls,  and  of  their  temporary  punishment. 

Conclusion.  Therefore  the  dogma  of  endless  hell 
was  not  generally  believed  by  the  Christians  of  the 
third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the  fifth  centuries. 

General  conclusion  of  this  third  article  : 

1.  AVe  have  proved,  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  second  century,  and  by  the  doctrines 
of  the  numerous  Christian  sects  of  the  same  -cen- 
tury, that  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  was  even 
unknown  to  the  Christians  of  the  first  and  of  the 
second  centuries.  Then  we  must  conclude  that 
not  only  the  first  Christians,  namely,  the  Christians 
of  the  first  and  of  the  second  centuries  did  not  be- 
lieve in  endless  hell,  but  even  that  they  knew 
nothing  about  such  a  dogma. 

2.  We  have  proved,  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the  fifth 
centuries,  and  also  by  the  many  Christian  sects 
which  existed  in  the  third,  in  the  fourth,  and  in 
the  fifth  centuries,  that  the  Christians  did  not  gen- 
erally believe,  in  the  said  centuries,  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell.  Therefore  the  Christians  of  the 
third,  of  the  fourth,  and  of  the  fifth  centuries,  did 
not  generally  believe  in  endless  hell. 


'iQQ  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Therefore  the  proposition  we  were  to  prove  in 
the  present  article,  that  the  first  Christians  did  not 
believe  in  the  doctrine  of  endless  hell,  remains  peremp- 
torily established. 

Objection. — Since  the  fourth  century  the  Church 
of  Rome  obtained  the  condemnation  of  the  above 
Christian  sects  in  five  general  councils.  But  if  the 
above  sects  had  composed  the  majority  of  the  body 
of  Christians,  the  Church  of  Eome  would  not  have 
obtained  their  condemnation.  Consequently  the 
above  sects  did  not  compose  the  majority  of  the 
body  of  Christians  duriDg  the  third,  the  fourth, 
and  the  fifth  centuries. 

Answer. — ^We  deny  the  minor  proposition  of  this 
syllogism,  which  is :  But  if  the  above  sects  had 
composed  the  majority  of  the  body  of  Christians, 
the  Church  of  Rome  would  not  have  obtained 
their  condemnation — and  we  prove  our  denegation 
as  follows : — 

Supposing  that  the  United  States  be  constituted 
into  an  empire — God  forbid! — that  the  emperor 
would  have  the  control  of  Church  property,  would 
side,  say  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  any 
other,  claiming  supremacy  over  the  other  Christian 
denominations;  and  that  the  emperor  would  as- 
semble councils  conjointly  with  that  Church,  would 
attend  and  even  be  vice-president  of  those  councils, 
would  enforce  them  with  civil  and  military  force, 
and  also  the  execution  of  their  acts  condemning 
another  sect  arrayed  before  those  councils,  without 
permitting  the  other  sects  to  vote  in  those  coun- 


OP   ENDLESS   HELL.  167 

cils,  would  it  follow  from  tliis  that  all  the  other 
Christian  sects  do  not  compose  the  body  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  United  States?     Certain!}^  not. 

But  the  case  was  the  same  with  the  Church  of 
Rome.  Since  the  end  of  the  second  century  the 
bishop  of  Rome  (we  do  not  say  the  Pope,  for  it 
was  only  centuries  after  that  he  had  the  boldness, 
or  rather  impudence,  to  call  himself  exclusively 
Pope,)  commenced  to  claim  a  personal  supremacy 
over  the  other  bishops,  and  also  a  supremacy  of 
his  church  over  the  other  Christian  churches. 
Yain  were  his  efforts  until  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century,  when  Sylvestre,  bishop  of  Rome, 
obtained  for  himself  and  for  his  church  the  favors 
and  protection  of  the  emperor  Constantine  I.,  who 
afterwards  joined  it,  (we  will  state  in  the  last  chap- 
ter of  this  work  the  reasons  vfhj  this  tyrant  took 
these  steps.)  In  behalf  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
he  convoked  the  council  of  Aries,  and  the  general 
council  of  ]Srice,  and  defrayed  the  expenses  of  the 
bishops  out  of  his  own  treasure.  His  protection 
to  the  Church  of  Rome  the  most  of  his.  successors 
on  the  imperial  throne  continued ;  and  thus  the 
power  and  supremacy  of  this  church  grew  in  ratio 
of  the  persecutions  directed  against  the  other 
Christian  denominations,  which  were  debarred 
from  voting  in  the  councils;  whose  church  prop- 
erty was  oftentimes  confiscated;  and  which  many 
of  them  were  prohibited  to  publicly  worship.  In 
consequence,  it  is  not  true  to  say  that,  if  the  vari- 
ous Christian  sects  spoken  of  before  had  composed 


168  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

the  majority  of  tlie  body  of  Christians,  the  Church 
of  Rome  would  not  have  obtained  their  condem- 
nation. Therefore  the  various  sects  spoken  of 
before  composed  the  majority  of  the  body  of  Chris- 
tians during  the  third,  the  fourth  and  the  fifth 
centuries. 

APPENDIX 

To  the  i^roofs  that  the  first  Christians  did  not  believe 
in  endless  hell. 

From  the  second  to  the  fourth  centuries  many 
Apocryphal  Gospels  had  been  written.  Some  of 
them  have  been  transmitted  down  to  us,  at  least 
their  fragments;  and  others  have  not  been  pre- 
served except  their  titles. 

Among  those  gospels  are:  1st,  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrews ;  2d,  according  to  the  ISTaz- 
areans;  3d,  according  to  the  Twelve  Apostles; 
4th,  according  to  St.  Peter.  It  is  supposed  that 
these  four  Gospels  were  that  of  Matthew,  altered 
by  the  Hebrews.  This  circumstance  has  led  the 
critics  to  believe,  that  the  Hebrew  or  Syriac  text 
of  Matthew  had  been  abandoned,  lest  it  might  be 
altered;  and  that  the  Greek  version  had  been  pre- 
served. 

5th,  The  Gospel  according  to  the  Egyptians; 
6th,  that  of  the  birth  of  the  virgin  Mary  :  we  have 
read  it  in  Latin;  7th,  the  Protogospel  of  James, 
written  in  Greek  and  in  Latin;  8th,  the  Gospel  of 
the  Infancy,  in  Greek  and  in  Arabic ;  9th,  that  of 
St.  Thomas;    10th,  the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  in 


OF   ENDLESS  HELL.  169 

Latin;  11th,  the  Gospel  Eternal;  12th,  that  of  An- 
drew; loth,  that  of  Bartholomew ;  14th,  that  of 
Apelles;  15th,  that  of  Basilides;  16th,  that  of 
Cerinthus;  17th,  that  of  the  Ebionites — perhaps 
it  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Hebrews;  18th,  that 
of  Tatian;  19th,  that  of  Eve;  20th,  that  of  the 
Gnostics;  21st,  that  of  Marcion;  22d,  that  of  St. 
Paul;  23d,  the  Gospel  of  the  small  and  great  in- 
terrogations of  Mary;  24th,  that  of  the  birth  of 
Jesus:  probably  the  same  as  the  Protogospel  of 
James ;  25th,  that  of  John,  or  of  the  death  of  the 
virgin  Mary;  26th,  that  of  Matthias;  27th,  that 
of  Perfection;  28th,  that  of  the  Simonians;  29th, 
that  of  the  Syrians  ;  30th,  that  of  the  Encratites  : 
probably  the  same  as  that  of  Tatian ;  31st,  the 
Gospel  of  Thadeus,  or  of  Jade ;  32d,  that  of  Val- 
entine ;  33d,  that  of  Life,  or  of  the  Living  God ; 
34th,  that  of  Philip ;  35th,  thatof  Barnabeus;  36th, 
that  of  James,  the  major;  37th,  that  of  Judas; 
38th,  of  the  Truth :  probably  the  same  as  that  of 
Valentine;  39th,  the  Gospels  of  Leucius,  of  Seleu- 
cus,  of  Lucianus,  and  of  Hesychius. 

For  a  more  extensive  information  concerning 
the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  we  refer  the  reader  to  the 
Codex  Apocryphus  E'ovi  Testamenti  Collectus, 
Castigatus,  published  at  Hamburg,  in  3  vols,  octavo, 
in  1719.  The  author  was  John  Albert  Fabricius, 
one  of  the  most  learned  antiquarians  of  the  17th 
century. 

We  had  the  opportunity  of  reading,  in  the  rich 
library  of  the  theological  school  of  Brou,  France, 
15 


170  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

several  of  these  Apocryphal  Gospels,  that  of  the 
birth  of  the  virgin  Mary,  the  Protogospel  of  James ; 
that  of  the  death  of  the  virgin  Mary,  and  that  of 
the  Twelve  Apostles ;  bnt  we  do  not  recollect  to 
have  seen  in  these  gospels  anything,  in  regard  to 
endless  hell,  more  positive  than  what  is  found  in 
the  Gospel  concerning  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem. 

Of  course  this  proof,  drawn  from  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  has  not  the  same  weight  as  if  it  was  drawn 
from  authentical  authors,  (it  is  for  this  reason  that 
we  have  not  inserted  it  in  the  body  of  proofs,)  how- 
ever as  it  is  certain  that  they  have  been  written 
from  the  second  to  the  fourth  centuries,  they  at 
least  show  that  their  authors,  and  the  many  Chris- 
tians who  used  them,  did  not  believe  in  endless 
hell. 

ARTICLE      IV. 

How  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  the  doctrine  of 

Endless  Hell  from  the  Pagans ;  and  how,  after- 

wards,  the  self-called  Orthodox  Protestant 

Churches  borroiced  it  from  the 

Church  of  Pome. 

It  has  been  proved  in  the  foregoing  article,  and, 

we  think,  to  demonstration,  that  the  Christians  of 

the  first  and  of  the  second  centuries,  neither  knew 

nor  believed  the  dogma  of  endless  hell;  wherefore 

we  may  logically  make  this  argument: 

The  Christians  of  the  first  and  of  the  second 
centuries  neither  knew  nor  believed  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell :   But  if  the,dogma  of  endless  hell  had 


OF    ENDLESS    HELL.  171 

been  tauglit  in  the  T^ew  Testament,  the  Christians 
of  the  first  and  of  the  second  centuries  would  have 
known  and  beheved  it.     This  we  prove : 

Those  of  the  apostles  who  wrote  the  Kew  Testa- 
ment certainly  knew  whether,  in  the  IsTew  Testa- 
ment they  wrote,  they  had  taught  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell.  If  they  had  known  that,  in  the  is"ew 
Testament  they  wrote,  they  had  taught  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell,  they  would  have  certainly  informed 
the  Christians  of  the  first  century,  in  their  oral 
predications,  that,  in  the  ISTew  Testament  they 
wrote,  they  had  taught  the  dogma  of  endless  hell, 
for  it  was  one  of  the  most  important  points  of  doc- 
trine. If  they  had  informed  the  Christians  of  the 
first  century,  in  their  oral  predications,  that  they 
had  taught,  in  the  ]^ew  Testament  they  Avrote,  the 
dogma  of  endless  hell,  the  Christians  of  the  first 
century  would  have  certainly  believed  that  they 
had  taught,  in  the  Is"ew  Testament  they  wrote,  the 
dogma  of  endless  hell.  If  the  Christians  of  the 
fii'st  century  had  beheved  that  they  had  taught,  in 
the  N'ew  Testament  they  wrote,  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell,  they  would  have  certainly  believed  in 
endless  hell.  If  the  Christians  of  the  first  century 
had  believed  in  endless  hell,  those  of  the  beginning 
of  the  second  century  would  have  also  believed  it ; 
for  the  apostle  and  evangelist  John  was  still  living 
at  the  end  of  the  year  100;  (even  many  authors  say 
that  he  died  only  in  104,)  and  therefore  if  any  dis- 
cussion had  arisen  in  regard  to  the  dogma  of  end- 
less hell,  he  would  have  declared  whether  it  was 


172  PAGAN     ORIGIN  i 

taught  in  tlie  New  Testament  or  not.  If  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  had 
also  beheved  the  dogma  of  endless  hell,  those  who 
would  have  lived  in  the  middle  and  at  the  end  of 
the  second  century  would  have  believed  it  also; 
because  learning,  from  the  lips,  or  from  the  writ- 
ings, of  those  who  were  coeval  to  some  of  the 
apostles,  the  dogma  of  endless  hell,  no  traditional 
alteration  might  have  taken  place  towards  this 
dogma ;  so  much  so  that  it  would  have  been  gen- 
erally spread  and  believed  among  Christians,  owing 
to  its  importance. 

Therefore  the  minor  proposition  of  our  argu- 
ment is  true :  J^ut  if  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  had 
been  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  the  Christians  of 
the  first  and  of  the  second  centuries  would  have  knoion 
and  believed  it.  Wherefore  we  draw  this  logical 
conclusion :  Then  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  is  not 
taught  in  the  New  Testament. 

Moreover,  if  the  Christians  of  the  third,  of  the 
fourth,  and  of  the  fifth  centuries,  had  thought 
that  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  was  taught  in  the 
New  Testament  they  would  have  at  least  generally 
believed  it.  But  they  did  not  generally  believe 
it,  as  it  has  been  proved,  to  demonstration,  in  the 
foregoing  Article :  consequently  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell  is  not  taught  in  the  ITew  Testament. 

From  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  Christians 
of  the  first  and  of  the  second  centuries  themselves, 
the  dogma  of  endless  hell  is  not  taught  in  the 
Kew  Testament,  we  draw  the  conclusion  that  the 


OF    ENDLESS   HELL.  173 

Church  of  Rome,  which  first,  and  successively,  in- 
troduced in  the  body  of  Christians  the  dogma  of 
hell  and  of  endless  hell,  did  not  originate  it  from 
the  ISTew  Testament ;  because  there  would  have 
been  a  general  protestation  against  it  from  all  the 
other  churches. 

It  has  been  proved,  in  the  second  Article  of  this 
chapter,  that  the  Jews  did  not  believe  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell.  Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome 
did  not  originate  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  from 
the  Jews,  or  from  their  Holy  "Writs. 

Wherefrom,  then,  did  the  Church  of  Rome 
originate  the  dogma  of  endless  hell? 

From   Paganism : — 

The  Church  of  Rome  established  mysteries  to- 
wards the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  They 
were  an  imitation  of  the  Pagan  mysteries. 

We  refer  the  reader  for  the  proofs  of  this  prop- 
osition to  the  last  pages  of  the  second  chapter 
of  this  work. 

Thereupon  we  continue.  It  was  only  succes- 
sively, and  to  make  more  proselytes,  that  the 
Church  of  Rome  had  established  those  ceremonies, 
rites  and  doctrines,  to  the  reading  thereof  we  have 
invited  the  reader,  and  which  were  not  only 
unspoken  of  in  the  Scriptures,  but  which  were  a 
pure  imitation  of  those  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
Pagans.  "We  say,  to  make  more  j^'^^oselytes ;  for  the 
aim  of  the  Church  of  Rome  was  evidently  to 
diminish  the  abruptness  of  the  transition  between 
Paganism  and  Christianity ;  to  throw  a  bridge,  if 


174  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

we  may  thus  illustrate  our  idea,  over  the  steep, 
wide,  and  deep  abyss  that  lies  between  Paganism 
and  Christianity. 

!N^ow  let  us  compare  the  hell  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  with  the  Tartarus  of  the  Pagans.  The 
Pagans  called  the  place  where  the  wicked  were 
punished,  Tartarus,  or  Infernus ;  the  Church  of 
Pome  called,  and  still  calls,  the  same  place,  Tar- 
tarus, or  Infernus.  The  Pagans  believed  that  the 
Tartarus  was  in  the  profundities  of  the  earth ;  the 
Church  of  Pome  held,  and  still  holds,  that  the 
Tartarus,  called  in  English,  Hell,  is  in  the  profun- 
dities of  the  earth. 

JRemark. — Before  proceeding  further,  let  us  give 
the  native  signification  of  the  words  Tartarus, 
Infernus  and  Hell.  Taprapoj,  ov,  dark  and  deep 
place:  Taprapa  yairj,  [in  Hcsiodc,]  abysses  of  the 
earth.  The  word  Taptapoj  has  been  adopted  and 
kept  in  the  Latin,  though  with  the  change  of  the 
final  oj  into  us,  Tartarus,  and  its  native  meaning 
preserved.  The  Latin  word  Infernus  derives  from 
the  word  inferior,  which  signifies  a  place  under, 
below  an  other,  a  cavity,  a  profundity.  The  words 
Tartarus,  Infernus,  have  been  kept  in  French, 
Tartare,  Enfer ;  in  Spanish,  Tartaro,  Infierno  ;  and 
also  in  the  other  languages  derived  from  the  Latin. 
The  English  word  hell  is  the  genitive  case  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  word  hole,  [See  Webster's  Diction- 
ary,] which  means  a  cavity,  a  profundity.  The 
word  Tartarus  has  been  kept  from  the  Latin, 
with  its  native  signification.      In  Greek  Tapfapos 


OP  ENDLESS   HELL.  175 

has  a  plural,  as  seen  before.  In  Latin  Tartarus 
has  a  plural,  Tartari;  so  Infernus,  Inferi.  In 
French  Tartare  has  a  plural,  Tartares ;  so,  JEnfery 
Enfers.  In  Spanish  Tartaro  has  a  plural,  Tarta- 
ros ;  so,  Infierno,  Injiernos. 

Now  we  continue  the  comparison  that  we  have 
commenced  between  the  Infernus  of  the  Pagans 
and  the  Infernus,  or  Hell,  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
We  will  use  the  word  Hell,  to  express  the  Tartarus, 
or  Infernus,  of  both  the  Pagans  and  the  Church  of 
Rome. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  there  was  a  gate  to 
their  hell ;  so  the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that 
there  is  a  gate  to  the  hell  of  the  Christians.  The 
Pagans  believed  that  the  frightful  Tisiphon 
watched  day  and  night  at  the  gate  of  their  hell ; 
so  the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that  Lucifer  holds 
the  keys  of  the  gate  of  hell,  as  St.  Peter  holds  the 
keys  of  Paradise. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  the  deepest  darkness 
reigned  in  their  heh;  so  the  Church  of  Rome 
believes  that  the  deepest  darkness  reigns  in  the 
hell  of  the  Christians. 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  in  their  hell,  the 
Phlegeton  river  rolled  huge  stones  on  fire,  burn- 
ing the  wicked  without  consuming  them ;  so  the 
Church  of  Rome  believed,  and  still  believes,  [even 
now  it  is  an  article  of  faith  which  must  be  believed 
Tinder  the  penalty  of  excommunication,  of  being  a 
heretic,  and  thereby  of  infaUibly  going  to  hell,] 
that,  in  the  hell  of  the  Christians,  the  wicked  are 


175  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

plunged  into  ai  corporeal,  or  material,  fire  of  sul- 
phur, and  of  brimstone.  St.  Augustine,  in  his 
work  De  Ci\dtate  Del,  Liber  21,  Capitulum  10, 
writes :  "  Gehenna  ilia.,  quod  etiam  stagnum  ignis  et 
sulphuris  dictum  est,  corjyoreus  ignis  erit."  [Trans- 
lation.— "That  Gehenna,  which  is  said  to  be  a 
marsh  of  fire  and  of  sulphur,  will  be  a  corporeal 
fire."] 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  in  their  hell,  the 
wicked  were  tortured  in  their  bodies  and  in  their 
souls,  although  their  bodies  were  in  the  grave ;  so 
the  Church  of  Rome  believed,  and  still  believes 
that,  in  the  hell  of  the  Christians,  the  wicked  are 
tortured  in  their  bodies  and  in  their  souls,  although 
their  bodies  are  in  the  grave. 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  in  their  hell,  hideous 
furies  were  armed  with  whips  and  other  instru- 
ments of  torture ;  so  the  Church  of  Rome  believed, 
and  still  believes,  that,  in  the  hell  of  the  Christians, 
the  devils  are  hideous  and  armed  with  whips,  tri- 
dents, harpoons,  and  other  instruments  of  torture. 
"We  invite  the  reader  to  go  to  Catholic  stores  of 
images,  and  to  see  the  representation  of  devils 
with  tails,  horns,  and  armed  with  instruments  of 
torture. 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  in  their  hell,  the 
wicked  were  whipped  and  tortured  in  various 
cruel  manners  by  the  furies,  though  their  bodies 
were  in  the  grave;  so  the  Church  of  Rome 
believed,  and  still  believes,  that,  in  the  hell  of  the 
Christians,  the  wicked  are  whipped  and  tortured 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  177 

in  various  cruel  manners  by  the  devils,  though 
their  bodies  are  in  the  grave.  The  Pagans  be- 
lieved that,  in  their  hell,  the  wicked  dragged 
heavy  chains ;  so  the  Church  of  Rome  believed, 
and  still  believes,  that,  in  the  hell  of  the  Christians, 
the  wicked  drag  heavy  chains.  The  Pagans  be- 
lieved that,  in  their  hell,  there  were  two  princi- 
pal abodes,  the  one  expiatory,  in  which  the  com- 
mon wicked  were  detained  and  tortured,  until 
they  had  expiated  their  faults,  and  been  purified 
enough  to  be  admitted  in  the  Elysium ;  and  the 
other,  the  vastest,  the  darkest,  and  the  deepest 
cavern,  where  great  criminals  were  burnt  and 
excruciated  endlessly,  and  without  any  hope  of 
cessation  or  relief  in  their  torments;  so  the 
Church  of  Rome  believed,  and  still  believes,  that 
in  the  hell  of  the  Christians,  there  are  two  prin- 
cipal abodes,  the  one.  Purgatory,  where  the  com- 
mon wicked,  namely,  those  guilty  of  venial  sins, 
are  tortured  and  burnt  in  a  material  fire,  until 
they  have  expiated  their  faults,  and  been  purified 
enough  to  he  permitted  to  crave  St.  Peter  to  open 
to  them  the  gate  of  Paradise,  and  the  other  the 
vastest,  the  darkest,  and  the  deepest  profundity, 
where  the  heretics,  the  schismatics,  those  who  eat 
meat  on  Friday,  do  not  pay  the  tithe  to  the  priests, 
or  who  disobey  kindred  laws  of  the  Church,  are 
plunged,  bodies  and  souls,  (though  their  bodies 
are  in  the  grave,)  into  a  devouring  fire,  and  where 
they  are  excruciated  endlessly,  without  any  hope 
of  cessation  or  relief  in  their  torments.     " 


178  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

Tlie  Pagans  believed  that,  in  the  expiatory- 
abode  of  their  hell,  there  were  many  different 
degrees  of  tortures;  so  the  Church  of  Rome 
believed,  and  still  believes,  that,  in  the  Purgatory 
of  the  hell  of  the  Christians,  there  are  many  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  tortures.  The  Pagans  believed 
that  supplications  could  relieve  and  free  from  their 
tortures,  the  common  wicked  detained  in  the 
expiatory  abode  of  their  hell ;  so  the  Church  of 
Rome  believed,  and  still  believes,  that,  in  the 
Purgatory  of  the  hell  of  the  Christians,  the  com- 
mon wicked,  namely,  those  guilty  of  venial  sins, 
can  be  relieved  in  their  torments,  and  be  freed 
from  them  by  supplications ;  hence  the  incalcula- 
ble sums  of  money  paid  to  the  priests,  to  say 
masses  for  the  deliverance  of  those  wicked ;  hence 
the  countless  splendid  churches,  the  vast  number 
of  monasteries,  convents,  nunneries,  abbeys,  and 
other  costly  edifices,  founded  in  behalf  of  those 
wicked. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  there  were  an  innu- 
merable quantity  of  different  degrees  of  tortures 
in  the  second  principal  abode  of  their  hell;  so 
the  Church  of  Rome  believed,  and  still  believes, 
that,  in  the  second  principal  abode  of  the  hell  of 
the  Christians,  there  is  an  innumerable  quantity 
of  different  degrees  of  tortures.  The  Pagans 
believed  that,  in  their  hell,  the  wicked  condemned 
to  endless  misery,  would,  mingle  with  their  yells 
of  anguish,  torment,  and  despair,  vociferations, 
maledictions,  and  curses,  against  the  gods,  and 


OF  ENDLESS   HELL.  "      179 

against  themselves;  so  the  Church  of  Rome 
believed,  and  still  believes,  that,  in  the  hell  of 
the  Christians,  the  wicked,  condemned  to  endless 
misery,  will  mingle  with  their  yells  of  anguish, 
torment,  and  despair,  vociferations,  maledictions, 
and  curses  against  God,  and  against  themselves; 
that  they  will  exclaim,  3Iontes  cadite  super  7ios! — - 
Mountains  fall  upon  us!  The  Pagans  believed 
that,  in  their  hell,  the  wicked  condemned  to  end- 
less misery  will  vainly  endeavor  to  kill  and  anni- 
hilate themselves ;  so  the  Church  of  Rome  believed, 
and  still  believes,  that  the  wicked  condemned  to 
endless  misery,  will  vainly  attempt  to  put  an  end 
to  their  miserable  existence. 

Therefore  there  is  a  most  striking  similarity,  or 
rather  identity,  between  the  hell  of  the  Pagans, 
and  the  hell  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Therefore,  since  as  proved  above, 

1st,  The  Church  of  Rome  was  the  first  Church 
which  introduced  the  dogma  of  endless  hell  in  the 
body  of  Christians ; 

2d,  Since,  as  proved  above,  the  Church  of 
Rome  did  not  originate  the  dogma  of  endless  hell 
from  the  Kew  Testament ; 

3d,  Since,  as  proved  above,  the  Church  of  Rome 
did  not  borrow  from  the  Jews,  or  from  their  Holy 
"Writs,  the  dogma  of  endless  hell ; 

4th,  Since,  as  proved  above,  the  Church  of 
Rome,  at  the  imitation  of  the  Pagans,  established, 
towards  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  mys- 
teries, many  of  the  ceremonies,  rites  and  doctrines 


180  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

thereof  were  alike  to  those  ceremonies,  rites  aiid 
doctrines,  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Pagans ; 

6th,  Since,  as  proved  above,  there  is  a  most 
striking  similaritj^,  or  rather  identity,  between 
the  hell  of  the  Pagans,  and  the  hell  of  the  Church 
of  Pome, 

We  legitimately  draw  this  important  conclu- 
sion: 

Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  from 
the  Pagans  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 

When  the  Protestants,  now  self-called  Orthodox 
Churches,  left  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  they  cut  off  many  of  the  appen- 
dices and  concomitant  particularities  of  the  dogma 
of  endless  hell;  but  they  preserved,  and  even  in 
our  days  profess  to  believe,  the  main  features  of 
this  dogma,  namely,  that  in  hell  there  is  sulphur, 
brimstone,  and  fire;  that  in  hell  there  are  devils; 
that  in  heU  there  are  many  degrees  of  torments; 
that  in  hell  the  wicked  are  constantly  burning  in 
fire  without  consuming,  and  are  constantly  tor- 
tured by  the  devils  without  any  relief;  that  hell 
shall  exist  forever  and  evermore,  as  long  as  end- 
less eternity  shall  endure;  and  that  the  torments 
of  the  wicked  in  hell  shall  no  more  end  than  hell 
itself. 

That  the  Protestants,  now  self-called  Orthodox 
Christian  Churches,  borrowed  from  the  Church  of 
Rome,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  dogma  of 
endless  hell ;  and  that  they  preserved  the  above 
belief  in  regard  to  endless  hell,  is  proved  by  the 


OP   ENDLESS   HELL.  181 

unanimous  testimony  of  modern  historians  and  of 
chroniclers.  That  they,  now-a-days,  profess  the 
above  beUef  in  regard  to  endless  hell,  is  a  fact 
which  we  can  daily,  and  particularly  every  Sun- 
day, in  all  cities,  towns,  and  villages  of  this  coun- 
try, and  of  all  Protestant  countries,  verify  with 
our  own  eyes  in  their  writings,  and  with  our  own 
ears  in  their  temples. 

Kow  we  draw  our  general  conclusions : 

1st,  Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed 
from  the  Pagans  the  dogma  of  endless  hell. 

2d,  Therefore  the  now  self-cahed  Orthodox 
Protestant,  or  Christian  Churches,  borrowed  from 
the  Church  of  Rome  the  dogma  of  endless  helL 

Conclusion  of  the  chapter: 

Therefore  the  JPartialist  doctrine  of  endless  hell  is  of 
Pagan  origin. 


CHAPTER    yill. 


PAGAN  OKIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  A  FIRST  JUDGMENT, 
BY  JESUS  CHRIST,  IMMEDIATELY  AFTER  THE  SEPA- 
RATION OF  THE  SOUL  FROM  THE  BODY. 


It  will  be  evident  that  the  origin  of  the  doc- 
trine of  a  first  judgment,  by  Jesus  Christ,  imme- 
diately after  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  is  Pagan,  if  it  can  be  proved,  1st,  That  the 
Pagans  believed  in  a  first  judgment,  by  a  god, 
immediately  after  the  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  body;  2d,  That  the  particulars  of  this  first 
judgment,  believed  in  by  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches,  present  a  striking  similarity  with  the 
particulars  of  the  first  judgment,  believed  in  by 
the  Pagans ;  and  3d,  That  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  transmitted  to 
the  now  self-called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches 
this  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment,  which  they  ac- 
cepted full  and  entire,  did  not  hold  it  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  nor  from  the  Jews. 

But  it  can   be  proved,   1st,   That  the  Pagans 

believed  in  a  first  judgment,  by  a  god,  immediately 

after  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body;  2d, 

That  the  particulars  of  this  first  judgment,  believed 

(182) 


PAGAiN    ORIGIN  OP   A  FIRST   JUDGMENT.  183 

in  by  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches,  present  a 
striking  similarity  with  the  particulars  of  the  first 
judgment,  believed  in  by  the  Pagans;  and  3d, 
that  the  Church  of  Rome,  which,  in  the  sixteenth 
century  transmitted  to  the  now  self-called  Ortho- 
dox Christian  Churches  this  doctrine  of  a  first 
judgment,  which  they  accepted  full  and  entire, 
did  not  hold  it  from  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ 
nor  from  the  Jews. 

1st,  It  can  be  proved  that  the  Pagans  believed 
in  a  first  judgment,  by  a  god,  immediately  after 
the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body. 

We  extract  the  following  from  the  History  of 
the  Egyptians,  by  RoUin.  Article — Funerals: 
"Before  the  dead  were  admitted  in  the  sacred 
asylum  of  the  tomb,  they  underwent  a  solemn 
judgment.  And  this  circumstance  of  the  funer- 
als among  the  Egyptians,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  things  in  the  ancient  history.  It  is  a 
consolation  to  us  to  leave  behind  us,  when  we  die, 
a  name  honored  among  men;  and  of  all  blessings 
it  is  the  only  one  of  which  we  cannot  be  deprived 
by  death.  But  in  Egypt,  it  was  not  permitted  to 
indistinctly  praise  the  dead ;  this  honor  was  con- 
ferred only  after  a  favorable  public  judgment. 
The  assembly  of  the  judges  was  held  on  the  other 
side  of  a  lake,  which  they  crossed  on  a  bark.  He 
who  conducted  the  bark  was  called,  in  the  Egyp- 
tian tongue,  Charon;  and  it  is  from  this  name  that 
the  Greeks,  instructed  by  Orpheus,  who  had  been 
in  Egypt,  had  invented  the  fable  of  the  bark  of 
Charon. 


184  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

"When  a  man  died  he  was  brought  to  judg- 
ment. The  public  accuser  was  heard.  If  he 
proved  that  the  conduct  of  the  dead  had  been 
wicked,  his  memory  was  stigmatized,  and  he  was 
deprived  of  the  honor  of  funerals.  The  people 
admired  the  power  of  the  laws,  which  extended 
even  beyond  death;  and  everybody,  influenced  by 
the  example  of  others,  was  afraid  to  dishonor  his 
family,  and  his  own  memory.  If  the  dead  was 
not  convicted  of  any  crime,  he  was  honorably 
buried.  What  was  the  most  astonishing  in  this 
judgment  of  the  dead  was  that  royalty  itself  was 
not  spared'.  The  kings  were  not  judged  during 
their  life,  the  public  good  demanded  it;  but  they 
were  not  exempted  from  the  after  death's  judg- 
ment, and  several  of  them  were  deprived  of  hon- 
orable funerals.  This  custom  passed  among  the 
Israelites.  We  read  in  the  Old  Testament  that 
wicked  kings  were  not  buried  in  the  tombs  of 
their  fathers.  Thus  kings  learned,  that,  if  their 
majesty  places  them  above  the  judgments  of  men, 
it  is  so  no  longer  when  death  has  placed  them  on 
the  same  level  with  their  fellow-men. 

"When  the  judgment,  which  had  been  pro- 
nounced, was  favorable  to  the  dead,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  ceremony  of  the  burial.  A  panegy- 
ric was  delivered  in  which  nothing  was  said  of  his 
birth,  because  every  Egyptian  was  considered  to 
be  a  noble  man.  His  personal  virtues  only  were 
praised.  Then  the  whole  assembly  supplicated 
the  gods  to  welcome  him  in  the  assembly  of  the 


OF  A  FIRST   JUDGMENT.  186'- 

virtuous  dead,  and  to  associate  him  to  their  eternal 
bhss." 

This  judgment  gave  birth  to  the  fable  of  a 
judgment  rendered  by  the  gods,  immediately  after 
the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body.  Charon 
was  represented  carrying  the  souls  of  the  dead  on 
board  his  bark,  across  the  Styx  river,  to  be  judged 
by  the  great  judge,  Minos.  This  became  a  gen- 
eral belief  among  the  Pagans,  not  only  in  Egypt, 
but  in  Greece,  in  Italy,  and  in  nearly  all  the  Ori- 
ental countries;  as  proved  by  the  unanimous  con- 
sent of  the  mythological  authors.  This  belief  has 
been  perpetuated  among  the  Pagans  of  those 
countries.  Even  in  our  days,  the  Indians  believe 
in  this  judgment,  and  call  the  great  judge,  Zomo, 
or  according  to  others,  Jamen.  The  Japanese, 
followers  of  Buda,  also  believe  in  this  judgment; 
and  they  call  the  great  judge,  Zomo.  Likewise 
the  Lamas  believe  in  this  judgment,  and  call  the 
great  judge  Erlik-kan. 

Therefore  the  Pagans  believed  in  a  fij'st  judg- 
ment, by  a  god,  immediately  after  the  separation 
of  the  soul  from  the  body. 

2d.  It  can  be  proved  that  the  particulars  of  this 
first  judgment,  believed  in  by  the  Partialist  Chris- 
tian Churches,  present  a  striking  similarity  with 
the  particulars  of  the  first  judgment,  believed  in 
by  the  Pagans : 

The  Pagans  believed  that  their  great  judge, 
Minos,  sat  on  a  throne,  to  judge  the  souls  im- 
mediately after  their  separation  from  the  bodies 
16 


186  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

that  they  "animated ;  so  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  sits  on  a  throne, 
to  judge  the  souls,  immediately  after  their  sepa- 
ration from  the  bodies  that  they  animated.  The 
Pagans  believed  that,  near  to  Minos'  throne,  and 
at  his  right  hand,  good  geniuses,  or  spirits,  stood; 
so  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches  believe  that, 
near  to  Jesus  Christ's  throne,  and  at  his  right 
hand,  good  angels  stand.  The  Pagans  believed 
that,  near  to  Minos'  throne,  and  at  his  left  hand, 
furies  stood ;  so  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches 
believe  that,  near  to  Jesus  Christ's  throne,  and 
at  his   left  hand,  devils  stand. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  the  souls  were  driven 
to  the  redoubtable  tribunal  of  Minos  by  their 
respective  guardian  angel,  who  had  accompanied 
them  during  their  whole  life  on  earth;  had 
watched  day  and  night  over  their  conduct;  and 
had  kept  a  record  of  all  they  had  done,  right  or 
wrong;  so  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  some  other 
Partialist  Christian  Churches,  believe  that  the  souls 
are  driven  to  the  redoubtable  tribunal  of  Jesus 
Christ  by  their  respective  guardian  angel,  who  has 
accompanied  them  during  their  whole  life  on  earth ; 
has  watched  day  and  night  over  their  conduct,  and 
has  kept  a  record  of  all  they  have  done,  right  or 
wrong.  The  Pagans  believed  that  Minos  based 
his  judgments  on  the  contents  of  two  books,  the 
one  called  book  of  life,  and  the  other  book  of 
death  ;  so  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches  believe 
that  Jesus   Christ  bases  his   judgments   on  the 


OF   A   FIRST   JUDGMNNT.  187 

contents  of  two  books;  the  one  called  book  of 
life,  and  the  other  book  of  death.  The  Pagans 
believed  that  the  souls  who  had  obtained  from 
Minos  a  favorable  sentence,  were  led  to  the 
Elysium  by  their  respective  guardian  angel ;  and 
that  those  who  had  been  condemned  to  the  Tar- 
tarus, were  apprehended  by  the  furies,  and  hurled 
into  it;  so  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches 
believe  that  the  souls  who  obtain  from  Jesus 
Christ  a  favorable  sentence,  are  led  to  Paradise 
by  their  resj^ective  guardian  angel ;  or,  [in  the 
opinion  of  those  of  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches,  which  do  not  believe  in  a  guardian 
angel]  by  other  angels. 

Consequently  the  particulars  of  the  first  judg- 
ment, believed  in  by  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches,  present  a  striking  similarity  with  the 
particulars  of  the  fij'st  judgment,  believed  in  by 
the  Pagans. 

3d.  It  can  be  proved  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  transmitted  to 
the  now  self-called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches 
the  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment,  which  they 
accepted  full  and  entire,  did  not  hold  it  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  nor  from  the  Jews  : — 

The  Church  of  Rome  does  not  hold  the  doc- 
trine of  a  first  judgment  from  the  apostles  of 
Jesus  Christ,  for  this  doctrine  implies  a  blasphemy 
— whether  Jesus  Christ  be  considered  as  being 
God  himself — and  all  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches  hold  that  he  is  God  himself — and  whether 


188  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Jesus  Christ  be  considered  as  being  only  the  Son 
of  God.  But  the  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment 
implies  a  blasphemy,  whether  Jesus  Christ  be  con- 
sidered as  being  God  himself,  and  whether  he  be 
considered  as  being  only  the  Son  of  God. 

First,  it  implies  a  blasphemy,  if  Jesus  Christ  is 
considered  as  being  God  himself.  Jesus  Christ, 
being  God  himself,  would  necessarily  know  all  the 
good  and  bad  actions  done  by  the  souls,  while  they 
animate  their  respective  bodies  on  earth,  in  conse- 
quence it  is  an  insult  to  his  attribute  of  wisdom, 
and  thereby  a  blasphemy,  to  say  that  the  guardian 
angels  of  the  souls,  as  they  bring  them  to  his 
tribunal,  inform  him  of  their  good  and  bad  actions, 
which  they  have  recorded.  Even  in  the  case  of 
those  of  the  Partialist  Christian  Churches,  which 
reject  the  circumstance  of  the  guardian  angels,  the 
doctrine  of  a  first  judgment  implies  an  insult  to 
the  wisdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  (in  their  opinion 
God  himself),  and  thereby  a  blasphemy;  for  a 
judgment  supposes  a  trial;  a  trial  supposes  an  in- 
vestigation ;  an  investigation  supposes  the  igno- 
rance of  the  deeds  to  be  pronounced  upon,  and  the 
supposition  that  God  has  not  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  those  deeds,  is  an  insult  to  his  wisdom,  and 
thereby  is  a  blasphemy. 

Second,  The  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment  implies 
a  blasphemy,  if  Jesus  Christ  is  considered  as  being 
only  the  Son  of  God.  If  God  had  vested  Jesus 
Christ  with  the  power  of  decerning  rewards  and 
punishments  to  the  souls  after  death,  he  would 
have  given  him  a  knowledge  of  the  good  and  bad 


OF    A    FIRST  JUDGMENT.  189 

actious  of  tlie  souls.  But  the  doctrine  of  a  first 
judgment  supposes  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  would  come  to  this  knowledge  only  through 
the  means  of  a  trial,  which  supposition  is  an  insult 
to  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  thereby  a  blasphemy. 

Then  the  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment  implies  a 
blasphemy,  whether  Jesus  Christ  be  considered  as 
being  God  himself,  and  whether  Jesus  Christ  be 
considered  as  being  only  the  Son  of  God. 

Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  does  not  hold 
the  doctrine  of  a  first  judgment  fi'om  the  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

General  conclusions: — 

It  has  been  proved  in  this  chapter,  1st,  That 
the  Pagans  believed  in  a  first  judgment,  by  a  god, 
immediately  after  the  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  body;  2d,  That  the  particulars  of  this  first 
judgment,  believed  in  by  the  Partialist  Christian 
Churches,  present  a  striking  similarity  with  the 
particulars  of  the  first  judgment,  believed  in  by 
the  Pagans ;  and,  3d,  That  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  transmitted  to  the 
now  self-called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches  this 
doctrine  of  a  first  judgment,  which  they  accepted 
full  and  entire,  did  not  hold  it  from  the  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  neither  did  she  hold  it  from  the 
Jews ;  for  not  a  single  passage  can  be  traced  out 
in  the  Old  Testament,  or  in  Josephus,  referring 
to  a  first  judgment. 

Therefore  the  origin  of  the  doctrine  of  a  first 
judgment,  by  Jesus  Christ,  immediately  after  the 
separation   of    the  soul  from  the  body,  is  Pagaiv 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  RESURRECTION 
OF  THE  BODY. 

If  it  is  proved,  1st,  That  in  the  first  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  before  the  coming  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  was  held  by  a  large  number  of  Pagans;  2d, 
That  the  Church  of  Rome  which,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  transmitted  it  to  the  now  self-called  Or- 
thodox Christian  Churches,  did  not  hold  it  either 
from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  from  the 
Jews,  it  will  remain  evident  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  borrowed  it  from  the  Pagans,  and  conse- 
quently that  its  origin  is  Pagan. 

But  it  can  be  proved,  1st,  That  in  the  first  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era,  and  before  the  coming 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  was  held  by  a  large  n amber  of  Pagans; 
2d,  That  the  Church  of  Rome,  which,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  transmitted  it  to  the  now  self- 
called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches,  did  not  hold 
it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  3d,  That 
she  did  not  hold  it  from  the  Jews. 

1st.     It  can  be  proved  that  in  the  first  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  before  the  coming  of 
(190) 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.      191 

Jesus  Christ,  the  doetriue  of  the  resurrection  of 
tlie  body  was  held  by  a  large  number  of  Pagans: 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  had 
been  taught  by  Zoroaster.  All  the  Persians  be- 
lieved it ;  and  even  now  the  Parsis,  or  followers  of 
the  religion  of  Zoroaster,  who  live  in  Turkey  and 
in  Persia,  hold  it.  It  was  also  one  of  the  dogmas 
of  the  Chaldeans,  and  of  many  other  oriental 
countries.  In  India  the  Pagans,  now-a-days,  be- 
lieve that  their  bodies  will  come  again  to  life,  and 
it  is  owing  to  this  belief,  the  Roman  Catholic  priest 
Bergier  says,  that  the  wives  throw  themselves  on 
the  same  wood  piles  on  which  lay  the  dead  bodies 
of  their  husbands,  to  be  burnt  alive,  and  to  come 
again  to  life  with  them.  This  belief  and  practice 
are  immemorial  in  India.  Interesting  particulars 
in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  be- 
lieved by  ancient  nations,  can  be  read  in  the  French 
work,  Memoires  de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions, 
tome  69,  pages  270,  and  following;  in  the  work  of 
Hyde,  on  the  Religion  of  the  Persians ;  and  also 
in  the  writings  of  Plutarch,  article  Isis  and  Osiris. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Diodore,  and  of 
Herodote,  the  Egyptians  believed  in  Metempsy- 
chosis ;  and  it  was  an  immemorial  doctrine  among 
them.  Also,  many  of  them  believed  that  their 
bodies  would  come  again  to  life,  after  a  sojourn  of 
one  thousand  3'ears  in  the  grave.  The  Sybilline 
verses  treat  of  the  resurrection  of  the  bod}'.  Much 
has  been  written  about  it  by  Bocchus,  in  Soiin, 
chap.  8;  and  by  Lactance,  book  7,  chap.  29,  book 


192  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

4,  cliap.  15,  18,  and  19.  The  Stoicians,  who  were 
the  moat  learned  philosophers  of  antiquity,  and  in 
the  three  centuries  which  preceded  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  also  in  the  three  that  followed, 
believed  in  Metempsychosis;  however,  a  portion  of 
their  school  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
body.  Of  this  we  are  informed  by  Seneca,  Epist. 
40 ;  by  Laerta,  book  7 ;  and  by  Plutarch,  writing 
on  the  Resignation  of  the  Stoicians. 

Pliny,  deriding  Democrite,  informs  us  that  this 
philosopher  believed  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
body;  see  book  7,  chap.  45,  where  he  says:  "Vain 
is  the  promise  made  by  Democrite  that  we  will  live 
again."  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  taught  in  these  verses  of  Phocylides  about 
the  remains  of  the  dead  : 

"Ouxa^o*'  apfiovorv  ava'Kvffiev  dvOpoTtoio. 
Kai  I'dxa-  5  ix  yairji  iXTii^ofxiv  is  rpao^  tXOtiv. 
Aii'i^av    aTCOLXOfiivov  orttjo  -ts  Otoi,  tcT^sOov-fat,, 

Translation : — "  It  is  impious  to  disperse  the  re- 
maitis  of  man ;  for  the  ashes  and  the  bones  of  the 
dead  will  come  again  to  light,  and  will  become 
similar  to  the  gods." 

Virgil  speaks  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
though  in  an  obscure  manner,  in  the  sixth  book 
of  his  poem  Eneida. 

Therefore  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era,  and  before  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  held 
by  a  large  number  of  Pagans. 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.    193 

2d.  It  can  be  proved  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  transmitted  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  to  the  now 
self-called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches,  did  not 
hold  it  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ : — 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  Church  of  Rome  did 
not  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  it  can 
be  proved,  1st,  That  the  Fathers  of  the  first  cen- 
turies did  not  agree  on  this  doctrine;  2d,  That 
nearly  all  the  Christian  denominations  of  the  first 
two  centuries,  and  the  majority,  to  say  the  least, 
of  those  of  the  century  following,  disbelieved  it ; 
and,    3d,  That  this  doctrine  is  irrational. 

But  it  can  be  proved,  1st,  That  the  Fathers  of 
the  first  centuries  did  not  agree  about  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  2d,  That  nearly 
all  the  Christian  denominations  of  the  first  two 
centuries,  and  the  majority,  to  say  the  least,  of  the 
century  following,  disbelieved  it ;  and,  3d,  That 
this  doctrine  is  irrational. 

1st.  It  can  be  proved  that  the  Fathers  of  the 
first  centuries  did  not  agree  about  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

Tatian  believed  in  Metempsychosis,  but  not  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  St.  Gregory  of 
Nysse  denied  that  there  was  anything  corporeal 
in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  since  the  time  he 
ascended  to  the  heavens.  Origen  admitted  the 
resurrection  of  the  bodies,  but  not  that  of  the  flesh. 
Synesius,  bishop  of  Ptolemaida,  in  his  Series  of 
17 


194  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Epistles,  declares  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  is  a  mystery,  whose  solution  ought 
to  be  kept  secret,  and  considered  as  sacred :  that  it 
is  well  to  teach  it  to  the  people ;  and  that  he,  the 
bishop,  would  publicly  profess  and  preach  this 
doctrine,  though  it  is  not  his  personal  belief.  If 
the  reader  desires  to  find  lengthier  particulars, 
about  the  divergency  of  the  opinions  of  the  Fath- 
ers concerning  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  we  refer  him  to  the  work  of  Beausobre, 
headed,  History  of  Mauicheanism,  tome  2,  book 
8,  chap.  5,  ISTo.  3,  and  following. 

Therefore  the  Fathers  of  the  first  centuries  did 
not  agree  about  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body. 

2d.  It  can  be  proved  that  nearly  all  the  Chris- 
tian sects,  or  denominations,  of  the  first  two  cen- 
turies, and  the  majority,  to  say  the  least,  of  those 
of  the  centuiy  following,  disbelieved  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body : — 

According  to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the 
Homan  Catholic  authors  themselves,  Bergier,  Fel- 
ler, Fleury,  etc.,  etc.,  the  fallowing  Christian  sects 
of  the  fii-st  three  centuries  held  the  dogma  of  Me- 
tempsychosis:  The  Basilidians,  the  Bardesanists, 
the  Barules,  the  Barborians,  the  Valentinians,  the 
Marcionites,  the  Marcosians,  the  Theodotians,  the 
Artemonians,  the  Carpocratians,  the  Docetes,  the 
Tatianists,  the  Apellites,  the  Montanists,  the  Arto- 
tyrites,  the  Severians,  the  Ascites,  the  Ascodrutes, 
the  Ophites,  the  Caiuites,  the  Sethians,  the  Her- 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.    195 

mogenians,  the  Hermiaus,  the  Yalesians,  the  Hier- 
acites,  the  Samosatians,  and  the  Manicheans :  this 
latter  sect,  Cathohc  authors  say,  were  subdivided 
into  more  than  sixty  sects,  which  professed,  each 
one  of  them,  to  beUeve  in  Metempsychosis.  The 
same  authors  add,  that  many  of  the  other  sects 
named  above  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
Though  they  do  not  say  so  of  all,  we  may  safely 
affirm  that  every  one  of  the  above  named  Christian 
sects  disbelieved  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body.     This  we  demonstrate  thus : — 

According  to  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis, 
when,  at  death,  a  soul  separates  from  the  body,  she 
passes  into  another  body  to  animate  it;  and  to 
thus  expiate,  by  many  and  successive  transmigra- 
tions, the  faults  she  has  committed  in  an  anterior 
existence,  and  so  continually.  But  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  teaches  that  the 
same  soul  which  animated  it  in  its  prior  existence, 
shall  animate  it  anew  when  it  will  come  again  to 
life.  How  can  then  this  same  soul  animate  this 
same  body,  and  at  the  same  time  the  thousands  of 
other  human  bodies,  which  she  had  also  animated 
in  her  various  transmigrations?  Therefore  the 
belief  of  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis  necessa- 
rily implies  a  disbelief  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body.  Consequently,  although  the 
Roman  Catholic  authors  do  not  positively  state 
that  all  the  above  named  Christian  sects  disbelieved 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  we 
may  safely  affirm,  from  the  fact  that  they  held  the 


196  PAGAN  ORiaiN 

doctrine  of  Metempsychosis,  that  they  disbelieved 
the  doctriue  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

Therefore  nearly  all  the  Christian  sects,  or  de- 
nominations, of  the  first  two  centuries,  and  the 
majority,  to  say  the  least,  of  those  of  the  century 
following,  disbelieved  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body. 

3d.  It  can  be  proved  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  irrational. 

All  the  reasons  which  have  been  brought  forth 
by  St.  Cyrille,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  his  Catechism, 
page  18;  by  St.  Gregory  of  JS'ysse,  in  his  oratio 
on  the  Kesurrection  of  the  Flesh ;  by  St.  Augus- 
tine, in  his  City  of  God,  book  20 ;  by  St.  Chrysos- 
tome,  in  his  homily  on  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Flesh;  by  Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Resur- 
rection of  the  Flesh ;  by  St.  Gregory,  the  Pope,  in 
his  Fourth  Dialogue ;  by  St.  Ambrosius,  in  his 
sermon  on  the  Faith  of  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Flesh;  and  by  St.  Epiphane,  Ancyrot,  page  38, 
can  be  summed  up  as  follows  : — 

God  himself  has  formed  with  his  own  hands 
man's  body;  he  has  animated  it  wnth  the  breath 
of  his  own  mouth,  and  has  placed  within  it  a  soul 
made  to  his  likeness.  The  flesh  of  the  Christian 
is,  in  some  manner,  associated  to  all  the  functions 
of  its  soul,  and  is  the  instrument  of  all  the  graces 
of  God.  It  is  the  body  that  is  washed  by  baptism 
to  purify  the  soul,  it  is  the  body  that  in  order  to 
feed  the  soul  receives  the  Eucharist;  it  is  the  body 
that  is  immolated  to  God  by  mortifications,  by 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.    197 

fasts,  by  vigils,  by  virginity,  and  by  martyrdom. 
Thus  St.  Paul  reminds  that  our  bodies  are  the 
members  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  temples  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Would  God  leave  in  the  grave  for- 
ever the  work  of  his  own  hands,  the  master-piece 
of  his  might,  the  depository  of  his  breath,  the  king 
of  the  other  bodies,  the  canal  of  his  graces,  and  the 
victim  of  his  worship? 

If  God  has  condemned  the  body  to  death  as  a 
punishment  for  sin,  Jesus  Christ  came  to  save  all 
that  was  lost.  Without  this  complete  reparation, 
we  would  not  know  how  far  the  goodness,  the 
mercy,  and  the  parental  tenderness  of  our  God, 
extend.  The  flesh  of  man,  restored  by  incarna- 
tion to  its  former  dignity,  ought  to  come  again  to 
life,  as  well  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  Is  not  he 
who  created  the  flesh  mighty  enough  to  bring  it 
again  to  life?  Nothing  entirely  perishes  in  nature  : 
forms  change,  but  all  renews  itself,  and  seems  to 
grow  young  again;  God  has  stamped  immortal- 
ity upon  all  his  works.  Night  follows  the  day, 
eclipsed  stars  appear  anew ;  the  spring  makes  us 
forget  the  winter;  plants  grow  again,  and  resume 
their  hues  and  perfumes;  and  several  animals 
which  seem  to  die  receive  a  new  life.  Thus,  by 
the  lessons  of  nature,  God  has  prepared  the  les- 
sons of  the  revelation ;  and  he  has  shown  us  the 
image  of  the  resurrection,  before  showing  us  its 
reality. 

God's  justice  demands  the  resurrection  of  our 
body.     God  ought  to  judge,  to  reward,  or  to  pun- 


198  PAGAN     ORIGDT 

isb  the  whole  man.  The  body  is  the  instrument 
of  the  soul  for  good  or  for  evil ;  even  the  thoughts 
of  the  soul  are  reflected  on  man's  face.  The  soul 
cannot  experience  pleasure  or  pain  without  the 
co-participation  of  the  body,  and  the  principal 
exercise  of  virtue  consists  in  the  repression  of  the 
desires  of  the  flesh.  Then  it  is  just  that  the  soul 
of  the  wicked  be  tormented,  by  being  reunited  to 
the  same  body  which  has  been  the  instrument  of 
her  crimes;  and  that  the  soul  of  the  saints  be 
rewarded,  by  her  eternal  reunion  to  a  body  which 
has  been  the  instrument  of  her  merits. 

All  these  reasons  can  be  generalized  thus: 

Man's  body  has  been  the  instrument  of  our  soul 
to  do  good  or  evil.  Then  the  justice  of  God 
requires  that  man's  body  come  again  to  life,  to 
share,  with  its  soul,  eternal  reward,  or  eternal 
punishment. 

We  answer:  Since  mane's  body  is  but  the 
instrument  of  our  soul  to  do  good  or  evil,  his  body 
is  capable  neither  of  merit  nor  of  demerit.  But, 
since  man's  body  is  capable  neither  of  merit  nor 
of  demerit,  it  is  capable  neither  of  reward  nor  of 
punishment.  Therefore  the  justice  of  God  does 
not  require  that  man's  body  come  again  to  life,  to 
share,  with  its  soul,  eternal  reward  or  eternal  pun- 
ishment. 

More,  it  is  irrational  that  the  same  particles  of 
matter  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  many  places.  But 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  sup- 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.     199 

poses  that  tlie  same  particles  of  matter  will  be, 
at  the  same  time,  in  many  places.     This  we  prove : 

The  cannibals  live  upon  man's  flesh;  and  they 
assimilate  to  their  own  bodies  the  particles  of 
flesh  which  compose  the  bodies  of  the  men  they 
devour.  Consequently,  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
bodies,  these  particles  of  flesh  will  compose  the 
bodies  of  the  cannibals,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
bodies  of  the  men  they  have  devoured.  Therefore, 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  sup- 
poses, that  the  same  particles  of  matter  will  be,  at 
the  same  time,  in  many  places. 

Besides,  when,  after  death,  man's  body  putre- 
fies, the  particles  of  flesh,  of  which  it  is  composed, 
dissolve  into  gases,  which  the  plants  convert  to 
their  own  nature.  Those  vegetables  and  fruits, 
thousands  of  men  eat ;  and  thus  they  assimilate 
to  themselves  those  same  particles,  which  formerly 
composed  the  bodies  of  other  men.  Consequently, 
at  the  resurrection  of  the  bodies,  those  particles 
will  compose  a  multitude  of  bodies.  Therefore, 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  sup- 
poses, that  the  same  particles  of  matter  will  be, 
at  the  same  time,  in  many  places.  .. 

Then  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  irrational. 

Objection. — Jesus  Christ  came  again  to  life  with 
a  spiritual  body.  Then  these  proofs  do  not  dem- 
onstrate that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  is  irrational. 


200  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

Answer. — Jesus  Christ  came  again  to  life  with  a 
spiritual  body;  this  we  coucede.  Tlieu  these 
proofs  do  not  demonstrate  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  irrational.  This  we 
deny ;  for  it  is  an  article  of  faith  in  the  Church 
of  Eome;  and  it  is  nearly  unanimously  believed 
by  all  tlie  other  Partialist  Churches,  that  the 
bodies  of  the  righteous  alone  will  be  spiritual 
bodies ;  and  that  the  bodies  of  the  wicked  will  be 
after  the  resurrection,  as  they  were  while  on  earth. 
Consequently,  it  does  not  follow,  from  the  fact 
that  Jesus  Christ  came  again  to  life  with  a  spirit- 
ual body,  that  the  above  proofs  do  not  demon- 
strate that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  irrational. 

Remark. — The  Parti alists  quote  passages  of  the 
Scriptures  to  prove  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body.  "We  shall  not  discuss  the  true 
meaning  of  those  passages ;  for  such  a  discussion 
does  not  enter  in  the  plan  of  this  work,  which  is 
exclusively  intended  to  prove  historically  the  true 
origin  of  the  Partialist  doctrines.  However,  in 
regard  to  those  texts  we  say : 

It  would  be  ^  blasphemy  against  God  to  sup- 
pose that  the  Scriptures  teach  us  an  irrational 
doctrine.  But,  as  demonstrated  above,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  irrational. 
Then  the  Scriptures  do  not  teach  it.  Then  those 
texts  ought  not  to  be  understood  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body. 

3d.    It  can  be  proved  that  the  Church  of  Home 


OF  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.     201 

did  not  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  from  the  Jews. 

The  Church  of  Rome  did  not  hold  from  the 
Jews  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
if,  1st,  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians  do  not 
hold  that  this  doctrine  is  taught  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ;  2d,  If  this  doctrine  was  traditional  only 
among  the  illiterate  portion  of  the  Jewish  nation ; 
and,  3d,  If  this  tradition  was  not  of  an  ancient 
and  national  origin. 

But,  1st,  The  Roman  Catholic  theologians  do 
not  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  is  taught  in  the  Old  Testament;  2d, 
This  doctrine  was  traditional  only  among  the 
illiterate  portion  of  the  Jewish  nation;  and,  3d, 
This  tradition  was  not  of  an  ancient  and  national 
origin. 

1st,  The  Roman  Catholic  theologians  do  not 
hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  taught  in  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Roman  Catholic  theologians  do  not  pre- 
tend that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  is  taught  in  the  Old  Testament;  they  only 
assert  that  it  may  be  that  it  is  taught  therein. 
Bergier,  who  is  their  organ,  and  whose  works, 
written  in  the  last  century,  were,  and  still  now 
are,  classical  among  the  priests,  writes — Article, 
Resurrection  of  the  Body,  page  159: — "We  pre- 
sume that  Job,  Daniel,  and  the  seven  Maccabean 
brothers,  had  some  knowledge  of  this  essential 
dogma."      Consequently    the    Roman     Catholic 


202  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

theologians  do  not  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  taught  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

2d,  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
was  traditional  only  among  the  illiterate  portion 
of  the  Jewish  nation. 

Josephus  states,  in  his  Antiq.  Jud.,  book  18, 
eh.  2 ;  and  in  his  De  Bello  Judaico,  book  2,  ch.  7, 
al.  ch.  12,  that  the  Saddncees  were  the  literate  por- 
tion of  the  Jewish  people ;  that  they  held  nearly 
all  the  public  offices;  that  they  were  well  edu- 
cated, courteous,  and  that  they  avoided  public 
discuvssions  and  controversies  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  He  states  also  that  they  disbelieved  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  There- 
fore the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body 
was  traditional  only  among  the  illiterate  portion 
of  the  Jewish  nation. 

3d,  The  tradition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  was  not  of  an  ancient  and 
national  origin. 

In  the  year  587  before  the  Christian  era,  in  the 
second  year  of  the  reign  of  Sedecias,  Jerusalem 
was  besieged,  taken,  destroyed;  Sedecias  and  the 
whole  nation  were  led  captives  to  Babylon.  There 
they  w^ere  detained  seventy  years,  until  Cyrus  per- 
mitted them  to  return  to  their  own  country. 
During  those  seventy  years  of  captivity,  the 
Jewish  people  borrowed  from  the  Pagans  many 
religious  practices,  ceremonies,  rites,  and  doc- 
trines— this   is   the   testimony    of  Josephus — and 


OF  THE  KESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.     203 

among  them  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  which,  as  has  been  proved  before,  was 
beheved  by  a  large  number  of  Pagans.  "When 
the  people  returned  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem  a 
portion  of  them  preserved  some  of  those  religious 
practices,  ceremonies,  rites,  and  doctrines,  and 
rejected  the  others.  Those  which  they  preserved 
they  transmitted  to  their  posterity,  and  among 
them  was  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body.  Therefore  the  tradition  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  not  of  an  ancient 
and  national  origin. 

We  have  proved,  1st,  That  the  Roman  Catholic 
theologians  do  not  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  taught  in  the  Old 
Testament;  2d,  That  this  doctrine  was  traditional 
only  among  the  illiterate  portion  of  the  Jewish 
nation;  and,  3d,  That  this  tradition  was  not  of 
an  ancient  and  national  origin. 

Therefore,  3d,  The  Church  of  Rome  did  not 
hold  from  the  Jews  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body. 

We  come  now  to  the  general  conclusions  of 
this  chapter. 

It  has  been  proved,  1st,  that  in  the  first  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era,  and  before  the  com- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ,  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  was  held  by  a  large  number 
of  Pagans ;  2d,  That  the  Church  of  Rome,  which, 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  transmitted  it  to  the 
now  self-called  Orthodox  Christian  Churches,  did 


204  THE   RESURRECTION   OF   THE   BODY. 

not  hold  it  either  from  the  Apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ  or  from  the  Jews. 

Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  from 
the  Pagans  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body. 

Therefore  the  origin  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  is  Pagan. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  A  GENERAL  JUDG- 
MENT AT  THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  Church  of  Rome  and  the  other  Partialist 
Christian  Churches  profess  to  believe  that,  at  the 
end  of  the  world,  a  general  judgment  of  all  the 
then  living,  and  of  all  the  dead,  shall  take  place. 
"When,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  great  Protes- 
tant scission  took  place,  the  new  Churches  formed 
preserved  this  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
with  only  accessory  modifications ;  and  since  that 
time  they  have  professed  it;  even  now-a-days 
they  cling  to  it.  We  shall  prove  in  this  chapter 
that  the  origin  of  this  doctrine  is  Pagan. 

The  origin  of  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judg- 
ment of  all  the  then  living  and  of  all  the  dead, 
which  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  world,  is 
Pagan,  1st,  If  the  Pagans  held  the  doctrine  of  a 
general  judgment  of  all  the  then  living  and  of  all 
the  dead,  which  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  the 
world ;  2d,  If  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between 
the  particulars  of  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judg- 
ment, as  held  by  the  Pagans,  and  the  doctrine  of 
a  general  judgment,  as  held  by  the    Church  of 

(205) 


206  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Rome,  and  by  the  other  Partialist  Christian 
Churches;  3d,  If  the  Church  of  Rome  did  not 
hold  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  4th,  If  the  Church 
of  Rome  did  not  hold  this  doctrine  from  the 
Jews. 

But,  1st,  The  Pagans  held  the  doctrine  of  a  gen- 
eral judgment  of  all  the  then  living  and  of  all 
the  dead,  which  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  the 
world ;  2d,  There  is  a  striking  similarity  between 
the  particularities  of  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment,  as  held  by  the  Pagans,  and  the  doctrine 
of  a  general  judgment,  as  held  by  the  Church  of 
Rome;  3d,  The  Church  of  Rome  did  not  hold 
the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  4th,  The  Church  of 
Rome  did  not  hold  this  doctrine  from  the  Jews. 

These  four  heads  of  questions  we  are  to  succes- 
sively prove. 

1st,  We  prove  that  the  Pagans  held  the  doctrine 
of  a  general  judgment  of  all  the  then  living  and  of 
all  the  dead,  which  shall  take  place  at  the  end 
of  the  world. 

Plato,  and  other  philosophers  and  writers  of  the 
Pagans,  taught  that  a  solemn  general  judgment 
of  the  dead  was  to  decide  their  fate.  Minos  sat 
on  a  throne,  and  shook  the  fatal  urn.  By  his  side 
were  the  avenging  furies,  and  a  host  of  evil  spirits, 
executioners  of  the  sentences  of  Minos.  Eacus, 
Rhadamante,  and  Triptolem,  were  his  assistant 
judges. 


OF   A   GENEKAL  JUDGMENT.  207 

Even  now  the  Indians  believe  that  Zomo  will 
judge  the  world;  so  the  Japanese.  The  Lamas 
ascribe  this  power  to  Erlik-kan. 

At  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  the  earth  was  to 
deliver  up  her  dead  to  be  judged.  It  was  to  be 
destroyed  by  fire  after  a  great  commotion  of  the 
celestial  spheres,  and  fears  of  the  then  living 
mortals. 

The  souls,  at  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  assembled 
in  a  vast  meadow,  adorned  with  asphodels,  where 
Minos  sat  on  his  throne.  The  dead  were  led  to 
his  redoubtable  tribunal  by  their  respective  guar- 
dian angels,  who  had  accompanied  them  during 
their  whole  life ;  watched  over  their  conduct;  and 
had  kept  a  record  of  all  they  had  done,  right  or 
wrong.  This  meadow,  where  the  dead  were  to  be 
judged,  was  called  the  field  of  truth,  because  there 
the  whole  truth  about  the  past  doings  of  the  dead 
-  was  made  known,  and  no  crime  could  escape  the 
knowledge  and  justice  of  the  great  judge.  The 
dead,  once  assembled,  were  divided  into  three 
classes.  The  first  class  was  composed  of  those 
who  had  been  virtuous  on  earth :  they  were  the 
smallest  number.  The  second  class  was  composed 
of  those  who  were  giiilty  of  great  crimes;  and 
the  third  class,  of  those  who  had  been  neither 
virtuous  nor  great  criminals. 

This  triple  division,  which  we  naturally  find  in 
society,  was  taught  by  Plato  in  his  Phoedo,  a  work 
in  which,  writing  about  the  judgment  of  the  dead, 
he  divides    them    as    said    before.      This    same 


208  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

division  we  also  find  in  Plutarch,  treating  the 
same  subject,  and  disserting,  in  his  answer  to  the 
Epicureans,  about  the  state  of  the  dead  to  be 
judged.  Minos  used  three  books  in  judging  the 
dead ;  the  first  was  called  book  of  life,  it  was  used 
for  the  righteous :  the  second  was  called  book  of 
death ;  it  was  used  for  the  great  criminals  :  the 
third  book  was  used  for  those  who  had  been  neither 
righteous  nor  great  criminals.  The  judge  pro- 
nounced the  sentence  only  after  the  severest  exam- 
ination of  the  virtues  and  crimes  of  ever}'-  one  of 
the  dead ;  and  he  afidxed  a  seal  on  their  forehead 
as  he  judged  them. 

Social  laws  and  duties  were  the  particular  sub- 
jects of  his  judgments.  He  amply  rewarded 
social  virtues,  and  severely  punished  social  vices. 
Among  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  this  great 
priestly  fiction  was  intended  for  the  maintenance 
of  laws;  for  stimulating  patriotism,  national  and 
social  virtues  by  the  hope  of  the  rewards  of  the 
Elysium;  and  also  to  check  crime  and  vice  in 
society,  by  the  fear  of  terrible  sufterings  in  the 
Tartarus.  Were  sentenced  to  the  Tartarus  all 
those  who  had  conspired  against  the  State,  or 
fostered  a  conspiration ;  those  who  had  been 
bribed ;  those  who  had  delivered  up  a  city  to  the 
enemy;  those  who  had  provided  the  foes  of  the 
country  with  weapons,  vessels,  provisions,  etc.; 
those  who  had  contrived  to  enslave  their  fellow- 
citizens,  or  had  tyrannized  over  them,  etc.  This 
last  dogma  had  been  added  to  the  others  by  the 
frefe  States. 


OF  A  jgeneral  judgment.  20i? 

Afterwards,  philosophy  turned  these  fictioDS 
against  despotism  itself,  which  had  invented  them. 
l*lato  placed  in  the  Tartarus  ferocious  tyrants, 
such  as  Ardiee  of  Pamphylia,  who  had  murdered 
his  brother,  his  father,  and  had  committed  many 
other  crimes.  The  soul  preserved  after  death  all 
her  stains,  and  was  sentenced  accordingly.  Plato 
represented  the  souls  of  the  kings,  and  of  other 
rulers,  as  being  the  most  stained.  Tantalus,  Tity- 
us,  and  Sisiphus,  who  had  been  kings,  were  the 
greatest  criminals,  and  endured  in  the  Tartai-us  the 
most  excruciating  pains.  However,  kings  did  not 
believe  those  fictions,  and  were  not  restrained 
from  oppressing  the  people. 

Yirgil  enumerates  the  principal  crimes  which 
divine  justice  punished  in  the  Tartarus.  He 
represents,  here,  a  brother  who  from  hatred  has 
slain  his  brother;  a  son  who  has  ill-treated  his 
father;  a  man  who  has  deceived  his  patrons;  an 
avaricious  man,  an  egotist,  and  a  selfish  man ; 
there,  are  seen  an  adulterer,  an  unfaithful  servant, 
and  a  citizen  who  either  waged  w^ar  against  his 
fellow  citizens,  or  sold  his  country  for  gold,  or  was 
bribed  for  the  enactment  of  unjust  laws.  Farther 
are  seen  an  incestuous  father,  and  wives  who  have 
murdered  their  husbands. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  authors,  or  origi- 
nators of  these  fictions,  pronounced  pains  only 
against  crimes  which  might  have  injured  society^ 
whose  progress  and  happiness  was  one  of  the 
great  ends  of  the  initiation  to  the  mysteries  of 
Eleusis  and  others. 
18 


210  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

In  tlie  Tartarus  Minos  punished  the  same  crimes 
which  he  would  have  punished  on  earth  according 
to  the  wise  la^i  s  of  the  Cretenses,  supposing  that 
he  had  in  reahty  reigned  over  them.  If  crimes 
against  rehgion  were  to  be  punished  in  the  Tar- 
tarus, it  was  because  religion,  being  considered  as 
a  duty,  and  as  the  principal  bond  of  society,  it 
necessarily  followed  that  irreligion  was  to  be  one 
of  the  greatest  crimes,  which  was  to  be  avenged 
by  the  gods.  Hence  the  people  were  taught  that 
the  great  crime  of  many  of  the  famous  criminals, 
tortured  in  the  Tartarus,  was  their  disrespect  for 
the  mysteries  of  Eleusis;  that  the  great  crime  of 
Salmone  was  to  have  tried  to  imitate  Jove's 
thunder ;  and  that  the  great  crime  of  Ixion,  of 
Orion,  and  of  Tityus,  was  to  have  violated  god- 
desses. 

The  fiction  of  the  Elysium  was  directed  to  the 
same  moral  and  political  aim.  Virgil  places  in 
the  Elysium  the  heroes  who  laid  down  their  lives 
for  the  defense  of  their  country ;  also  the  inven- 
tors of  arts,  and  all  those  who  have  been  useful  to 
their  fellow  men,  and  have  a  title  to  their  grati- 
tude. It  was  to  strengthen  this  idea  that  apoth- 
eosis was  instituted;  hence  it  was  taught  in  the 
mysteries  that  Hercules,  Bacchus,  and  the  Dios- 
cores  were  but  men,  who,  by  their  virtues  and 
their  services  had  obtained  immortality.  After- 
wards the  Romans  placed  Scipio  in  the  Elysium. 
Cicero  ascribed  a  high  station  in  the  Elysium 
to  the  true  patriots ;  to  the  friends  of  justice;  to 
good  sons ;  to  good  parents ;  and  to  good  citizens. 


OF    A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  211 

In  the  Elysium,  as  Plato  described  it,  kindness 
and  j  ustice  were  rewarded  :  there  the  true  patriot, 
the  modest  and  just  Aristides,  had  been  admitted. 
To  this  divine  recompense  piety,  eagerness  in 
seeking  for  truth,  and  love  to  it,  were  the  surest 
titles.  "When  the  dead  had  been  judged  those 
who  had  been  pronounced  worthy  of  the  Elysium 
passed  to  the  right  hand  side,  and  were  led  to  the 
Elysium,  every  one  by  his  guardian  angel.  Those 
who  had  been  sentenced  to  the  Tartarus  passed  to 
the  left  hand  side,  and  were  dragged  thereto,  each 
one  by  the  evil  genius  that  beguiled  him  while  on 
earth.  Onward  they  were  driven,  carrying  on 
their  back  their  sentence  of  condemnation,  and 
the  enumeration  of  all  their  crimes.  Those  whose 
vices  were  curable  were  to  be  released  after  due 
expiation  and  reform. 

According  to  Plato,  the  dead  who  have  been 
guilty  of  murder,  sacrilege,  and  other  enormous 
crimes,  shall  be  endlessly  miserable  in  the  Tartarus. 
Those  whose  crimes  have  not  been  so  great  shall 
be  detained  therein  for  a  year  ;  and,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  this  time  they  will  be  brought  out,  near  the 
.  marsh  of  Acheron,  by  the  waters  of  the  Oocyte, 
and  of  the  Pyriphlegeton  rivers.  Then  they  shall 
humbly  beg  pardon  from  those  they  have  wronged; 
and,  if  they  obtain  it,  they  shall  be  released ;  if  not 
they  shall  be  taken  back  to  the  Tartarus  on  the 
rivers.  Yirgil  also  speaks  of  that  state  of  expia- 
tion and  purification  of  the  souls  of  the  dead. 

Therefore  the  Pagans  held  the   doctrine   of  a 


212  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

general  judgment  of  all  the  then  living,  and  of  all 
the  dead,  which  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  the 
world. 

2d.  "We  prove  that  there  is  a  striking  similarity 
between  the  particularities  of  the  doctrine  of  a 
general  judgment,  as  held  by  the  Pagans,  and  the 
doctrine  of  a  general  judgment,  as  held  by  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  immediately 'before 
the  end  of  the  world,  there  would  be  mighty  and 
frightful  signs  in  the  heavens ;  and  that  the  then 
living  mortals  would  be  struck  with  terror:  like- 
wise the  Church  of  Pome  believes  that,  at  the  end 
of  the  world,  the  columns  of  the  heavens  will  be 
shaken ;  that  the  signs  on  high  will  be  so  frightful 
that  the  then  living  men  will  be  appalled :  also 
there  will  be  famine,  pestilence,  war  and  murders 
over  the  whole  earth.  The  Pagans  believed  that, 
at  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  the  earth  would  deliver 
up  her  dead  to  be  judged  :  likewise  the  Church  of 
Rome  believes  that  four  angels  will  sound  a 
trumpet;  and  that,  when  the  four  trumpets  will 
resound  over  the  earth,  all  the  dead,  who  had  been 
buried  either  in  the  sea  or  in  the  earth,  will  come 
again  to  life  to  be  judged. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  geniuses  would  force 
men  to  the  place  of  judgment :  likewise  the 
Church  of  Rome  believes  that  angels  will  gather, 
from  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  earth,  the 
multitude  of  men  to  the  place  of  judgment. 
The  Pagans  believed  that  men  would  be  judged  in 


OF   A   GENERAL  JUDGMENT.  213 

a  meadow  covered  with  astopliels  :  likewise  the 
Church  of  Rome  believes  that  the  general  judg- 
ment will  take  place  in  the  valley  of  Josaphat. 
The  Pagans  believed  that,  in  the  meadow,  a  throne 
would  be  erected,  on  which  Minos,  the  great 
judge,  would  sit:  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome 
believes  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  judge,  will 
descend  from  heaven  on  clouds,  and  will  sit  on  a 
throne  erected  in  the  valley  of  Josaphat.  The 
Pagans  believed  that,  near  to  the  throne  of  Minos, 
Eacus,  Rhadamante  and  Triptolem,  his  assistant 
judges,  and  good  geniuses,  or  spirits,  would  stand: 
likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  believes,  that,  near 
to  the  throne  of  Jesus  Christ,  good  angels  will 
stand. 

The  Pagans  believed  that,  near  to  the  throne  of 
Minos,  would  stand  avenging  furies,  and  a  host  of 
evil  spirits,  executioners  of  the  sentences  of  Minos 
against  the  wicked :  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome 
believes  that  there  will  be,  at  some  distance  from 
the  throne  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  host  of  devils, 
executioners  of  the  sentences  of  Jesus  Christ 
against  the  wicked.  The  Pagans  believed  that 
each  man  was  led  to  the  redoubtable  tribunal  of 
Minos  by  the  guardian  spirit,  who  had  accoi^pa- 
nied  him  during  his  whole  life  on  earth :  likewise 
the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that  each  man  will 
be  led  to  the  redoubtable  tribunal  of  Jesus  Christ 
by  the  guardian  angel  who  has  accompanied  him 
during  his  whole  life  on  earth. 

The  Pagans  believed  that   Miuos  used  three 


214  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

books  in  his  judgments:  the  first  called  book  of 
life,  for  the  righteous ;  the  second  called  book  of 
death,  for  the  great  criminals;  and  the  third  for 
those  who  had  been  neither  righteous  nor  great 
criminals:  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  believes 
that  Jesus  Christ  will  use  two  books :  the  one 
called  book  of  life,  for  the  righteous ;  and  the  other 
called  book  of  death,  for  the  wicked. 

JRcmark. — The  Church  of  Rome  does  not  hold 
that,  at  the  general  judgment,  Jesus  Christ  will 
use  the  third  book ;  but  holds  that,  in  the  first 
judgment,  he  uses  it  for  those  of  the  dead  who 
have  been  neither  righteous  nor  great  criminals, 
and  who  thereby  shall  be  sentenced  to  Purgatory, 
which  shall  finish  at  the  end  of  the  world.  Apro- 
pos of  this  limitation  of  the  duration  of  Purgator}', 
we  might  cursorily  say  that  this  restriction  has 
been  w^isely  made  by  the  far-sighted  ministers  of 
the  Church;  for  as,  after  the  general  judgment, 
they  would  be  no  longer  on  earth,  they  could  not 
say  masses  and  other  prayers,  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  souls  detained  in  Purgatory;  and  thus  it 
would  be  quite  useless  to  make  the  torments  of 
Purgatory  last  any  longer. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  the  guardian  spirit  of 
each  man,  who  had  accompanied  him  through  life, 
and  had  kept  a  record  of  all  his  good  and  bad 
actions,  would  testify  to  Minos  in  his.  favor,  or 
against  him :  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  believes 
that  the  guardian  angel  of  each  man,  who  has 
accompanied  him  through  life,  and  has  kept  a 


OF   A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  215 

record  of  all  his  good  and  bad  actions,  will  testify 
to  Jesus  Christ  in  his  favor,  or  against  him.  The 
Pagans  called  the  meadow  of  the  general  j  udgment, 
the  field  of  the  truth :  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome 
calls  the  valley  of  Josaphat,  the  valley  of  the 
truth.  The  Pagans  believed  that  the  crimes  for 
which  Minos  was  to  inflict  the  severest  punishment 
were  those  against  religion,  against  its  hierophants, 
and  against  other  ministers :  likewise  the  Church 
of  Rome  believes  that  the  crimes  for  which  Jesus 
Christ  is  to  inflict  the  severest  punishment,  are 
those  against  the  Church,  against  its  Pope,  against 
its  bishops  and  its  priests.  The  Pagans  believed 
that  the  neglect  or  omission  of  lustrations,  and 
other  practices  and  teachings  of  the  priests,  would 
be  severely  punished  by  Minos :  likewise  the 
Church  of  Rome  believes  that  the  neglect  or  omis- 
sion of  the  practices,  ceremonies,  and  other  pre- 
scriptions of  the  priests,  will  be  severely  punished 
by  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  those  found  righteous 
would  be  placed  at  the  right  hand  side  of  Minos, 
but  the  wicked  at  his  left  hand  side :  likewise  the 
Church  of  Rome  believes  that  the  righteous  will 
be  placed  at  the  right  hand  side  of  Jesus  Christ, 
but  the  wicked  at  his  left  hand  side.  The  Pagans 
believed  that  the  righteous  would  be  destined,  by 
Minos,  to  eternal  bliss  in  the  Elysium;  but  that 
the  wicked  would  be  sentenced,  by  Minos,  to  end- 
less misery  in  the  Tartarus :  likewise  the  Church 
of  Rome  believes  that  the  righteous  will  be  des- 


216  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

tined,  by  Jesus  Clirist,  to  eternal  bliss  in  Paradise; 
but  that  the  wicked  will  be  sentenced,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  to  endless  misery.  The  Pagans  believed 
that  the  wicked  would  carry  on  their  back  their 
sentence  of  condemnation,  and  the  enumeration  of 
all  their  crimes :  likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  be- 
lieves that  the  wicked  will  carry  on  their  back 
their  sentence  of  condemnation,  and  the  enumera- 
tion of  all  their  crimes. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  the  guardian  spirits 
of  the  righteous  would  lead  them  to  the  the  Elysi- 
um: likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that 
the  angels  of  the  Lord  will  lead  them  to  heaven, 
in  a  procession  preceded  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
Pagans  believed  that  Furies,  and  other  evil  spirits, 
would  drag  the  wicked  to  the  Tartarus :  likewise 
the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that  the  devils  will 
drive,  with  whips,  the  wicked  to  hell.  The  Pagans 
believed  that,  after  the  general  judgment,  the  earth 
would  be  destroyed  by  fire :  likewise  the  Church 
of  Rome  believes  that  the  earth  will  be  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  that  then  will  the  world  end. 

Therefore  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between 
the  particularities  of  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment,  as  held  by  the  Pagans,  and  the  doctrine 
of  a  general  judgment  as  held  by  the  Church  of 
Rome. 

3d.  "VVe  prove  that  the  Church  of  Rome  did 
not  hold  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from 
the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Church  of  Rome  did  not  hold  the  doctrine 


OF   A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  217 

of  a  general  judgment  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ,  1st,  If  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians  did 
not  understand  the  24th  chapter  of  Matthew,  and 
the  last  sixteen  verses  of  the  25th ;  the  24th,  25th, 
26th,  and  27th  verses  of  the  13th  chapter  in  Mark, 
and  also  the  25th,  26th,  27th,  and  28th  verses  of 
the  21st  chapter  in  Luke,  as  meaning  a  general 
judgment;  2d,  If  nearl}'' all  the  Christian  sects,  or 
denominations,  of  the  first  and  of  the  second  cen- 
turies, did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment;  and,  3d,  If  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment  is  irrational. 

But,  1st,  The  Roman  Catholic  theologians  did 
not  understand  the  24th  chapter  of  Matthew,  and 
the  last  sixteen  verses  of  the  25th ;  the  24th,  25th, 
26th,  and  27th  verses  of  the  13th  chapter  in  Mark; 
and  also  the  25th,  26th,  27th,  and  28th  verses  of 
the  21st  chapter  in  Luke,  as  meaning  a  general 
judgment;  2d,  Nearly  all  the  Christian  sects,  or 
denominations,  of  the  first  and  of  the  second  cen- 
turies, did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment;  and,  3d,  The  doctrijie  of  a  general 
judgment  is  irrational. 

1st.  "We  prove  that  the  Roman  Catholic  theo- 
logians did  not  understand  the  24th  chapter  of 
Matthew,  and  the  last  sixteen  verses  of  the. 25th; 
the  24th,  25th,  26th,  and  27th  verses  of  the  13th 
chapter  in  Mark;  and  also  the  25th,  26th,  27th, 
and  28th  verses  of  the  21st  chapter  in  Luke,  as 
meaning  a  general  judgment. 

JRemark. — To  save  the  reader  the  trouble  of  re- 
19 


218  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

ferring  to  Lis  BiBle,  we  insert  liere  tlie  above  pas- 
sages of  the  Gospel,  wliich  the  Partiahsts  suppose 
to  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  general  jndgiiient. 

Matthew,  chap.  24. — 1.  "And  Jesus  went  out, 
and  departed  from  the  temple :  and  his  disciples 
came  to  him  for  to  show  him  the  buildings  of  the 
temple.  2.  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  See  ye  not 
all  these  things?  verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  shall 
not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another,  that  shall 
not  be  thrown  down. 

3.  And  as  he  sat  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the 
disciples  came  unto  him  privately,  saying,  Tell  us, 
when  shall  these  things  be?  and  what  shall  be  the 
sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world? 
4.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Take 
heed  that  no  man  deceive  you.  5.  For  many  shall 
come  in  my.name,  saying,  I  am  Christ;  and  shall 
deceive  many.  6.  And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and 
rumors  of  wars :  see  that  ye  be  not  troubled;  for 
all  these  things  must  come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is 
not  yet.  7.  For  nation  shall  rise  against  nation, 
and  kingdom  against  kingdom :  and  there  shall  be 
famines,  and  pestilences,  and  earthquakes,  in  divers 
places.  8.  All  these  are  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 
9.  Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up  to  be  afflicted, 
and  shall  kill  you :  and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all 
nations  for  my  name's  sake.  10.  And  then  shall 
many  be  offended,  and  shall  betray  one  another, 
and  shall  hate  one  another.  11.  And  many  false 
prophets  shall  rise,  and  shall  deceive  many.  12. 
And  because  iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love  of 


OF  A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  219 

many  shall  wax  cold.  13.  But  lie  that  shall  en- 
dure unto  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved.  14. 
And  this  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations ;  and 
then  shall  the  end  come.  15.  When  ye,  therefore, 
shall  see  the  abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of 
by  Daniel  the  prophet,  stand  in  the  holy  place ; 
(whoso  readeth,  let  him  understand;)  16.  Then 
let  them  which  be  in  Judea  flee  into  the  moun- 
tains :  17.  Let  him  which  is  on  the  housetop  not 
come  down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his  house : 
18.  Keither  let  him  which  is  in  the  field  return 
back  to  take  his  clothes.  19.  And  wo  unto  them 
that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck  in 
those  days !  20.  But  pray  ye  that  your  flight  be 
not  in  the  winter,  neither  on  the  Sabbath  day : 
21.  For  then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was 
not  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time, 
no,  nor  ever  shall  be.  22.  And  except  those  days 
should  be  shortened,  there  should  no  flesh  be  saved: 
but  for,  the  elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  short- 
ened. 23.  Then  if  any  man  sliall  say  unto  you, 
Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or  there ;  believe  it  not.  24.  For 
there  shall  arise  false  Christs,  and  false  prophets, 
and  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders;  insomuch 
that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the  very 
elect.  25.  Behold,  I  have  told  you  before.  26. 
"Wlierefore  if  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Behold,  he 
is  in  the  desert;  go  not  forth  :  behold,  he  is  in  the 
secret  chambers ;  believe  it  not.  27.  For  as  the 
lightning  cometh  out  of  the  cast,  and  shineth  even 


220  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

unto  the  west ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  man  be.  28.  For  wheresoever  the  carcass  is, 
there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together.  29. 
Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days, 
shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall  not 
give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven, 
and  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken  : 
80.  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
man  in  heaven :  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and 
great  glory.  31.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels 
with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall 
gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from 
one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other. 

32.  Now  learn  a  parable  of  the  fig-tree;  When 
his  branch  is  yet  tender,  and  puttetli  forth  leaves, 
ye  know  that  summer  is  nigh:  33.  So  likewise  je, 
when  ye  shall  see  all  these  things,  know  that  it  is 
near,  even  at  the  doors.  34.  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
This  generation  shall  not  pass,  till  all  these  things 
be  fulfilled.  35.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away.  36.  But  of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the 
angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Father  only.  37.  But 
as  the  days  of  l^oah  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  be.  38.  For  as  in  the  da^'s  that 
were  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating  and  drink-, 
ing,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the 
day  that  'Noah  entered  into  the  ark,  39.  And 
knew  not  until  the  flood  came,  and  took  them  all 


OF   A    GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  221 

away ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man 
be.  40.  Then  shall  two  be  in  the  field ;  the  one 
shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left.  41.  Two  women 
shall  he  grinding  at  the  mill ;  the  one  shall  be  taken, 
and  the  other  left. 

42.  Watch  therefore;  for  ye  know  not  what 
hour  your  Lord  doth  come.  43.  But  know  this, 
that  if  the  good  man  of  the  house  had  known  in 
what  watch  the  thief  would  come,  he  would  liave 
watched,  and  would  not  have  suffered  his  house  to 
be  broken  up.  44.  Therefore  be  ye  also  ready; 
for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of 
man  cometh.  45.  "Who  then  is  a  faithful  and 
wise  servant,  vrliom  his  lord  hath  made  ruler  over 
his  household,  to  gave  them  meat  in  due  season? 
46.  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his  lord,  when 
he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing.  47.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  That  he  shall  make  liim  ruler  over  all 
his  goods.  48.  But  and  if  that  evil  servant  shall 
say  in  his  heart.  My  lord  delayeth  his  coming ; 
49.  And  shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellow-servants, 
and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken;  50.  The 
lord  of  that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  when  Ije 
looketh  not  for  hbn,  and  in  an  hour  that  he  is  not 
aware  of,  51.  And  shall  cut  him  asunder,  and 
appoint  him  his  portion  with  the  hypocrites :  there 
shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

Matthew,  chapter  25. — 31.  "When  the  Son  of 
man  shall  come  in  his'  glory,  and  all  the  holy 
angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  his  glory :     32.  And  before  him  shall  be  gath- 


222  PAGAN    ORIGIN 

ered  all  nations:  and  he  shall  separate  them  one 
from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  the  goats :  33.  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep 
on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left.  34. 
Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right 
hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  3'ou  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world:  35.  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye 
gave  me  meat:  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me 
drink:  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in:  36. 
Kaked,  and  ye  clothed  me:  I  was  sick,  and  ye 
visited  me :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me. 
37.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  a  hungered,  and  fed 
theef  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink?  38.  When 
saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in?  or  naked, 
and  clothed  theef  39.  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick, 
or  in  prison,  and  come  unto  thee?  40.  And  the 
King  shall  answer  and  say  unto  them.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one 
of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it 
unto  me.  41.  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them 
on  the  left  hand.  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels :  42.  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye  gave 
me  no  meat:  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no 
drink :  43.  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not 
in:  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not:  sick,  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not.  44.  Then  shall 
they  also  answer  him,  saying.  Lord,  when  saw  we 
thee  a  hungered,  or  athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked, 


OF   A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  223 

or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto  thee? 
45.  Then  shall  he  answer  them,  saying.  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of 
the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me.  46.  And 
these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment; 
but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." 

Luke,  chapter  21. — 25.  "And  there  shall  he 
signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars ; 
and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  per- 
plexity ;  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring;  26.  Men's 
hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after 
those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth  :  for 
the  powers  of  heaven  shall  he  shaken.  27.  And 
then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  a 
cloud,  with  power  and  great  glory.  28.  And 
when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads  ;  for  your  redemp- 
tion draweth  nigh." 

Mark,  chapter  13. — 24.  "But  in  those  days, 
after  that  tribulation,  the  sun  shall  be  darkened, 
and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light.  25.  And 
the  stars  of  heaven  shall  fall,  and  the  powers  that 
are  in  heaven  shall  be  shaken.  26.  And  then  shall 
they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds 
with  great  power  and  glory.  27.  And  then  shall 
he  send  his  angels,  and  shall  gather  together  his 
elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
heaven." 

Berg-ier,  one  of  the  most  classical  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  theologians,  says,  in  the  first  volume  of 


224  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

his  works,  article  Agnoetes,  tliat,  in  tlie  sixth 
century,  the  theologians  answered  the  Agnoetes 
as  follows:  "In  these  texts,  it  is  not  a  question  of 
the  day  of  the  general  judgment,  but  of  the  day 
when  tTesus  Christ  was  to  come  to  punish  the 
Jewish  nation  by  the  sword  of  the  liomans.'' 
Then  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians  did  not 
understand  these  texts  as  meaning  a  general  judg- 
ment. 

]Moreover,  Bergier,  writing  against  the  Millen- 
aries, says,  article  World: — "The  disciples  of 
Christ,  sometime  before  his  resurrection,  spake  to 
liim  of  the  structure  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
Matthew,  ch.  24,  Mark,  ch.  13,  Luke,  ch.  21. 
Jesus  Chn.st  told  them  that  it  shall  be  destroyed; 
and  that  not  one  of  the  stones  will  be  left  upou 
the  other.  The  disciples,  surprised,  asked  him 
when  this  shall  take  place;  what  will  be  the  signs 
of  his  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  century. 
Then  there  will  be,  he  said,  wars  and  seditions, 
.jarthquakes,  pests,  and  famines ;  ye  yourselves 
will  be  persecuted  and  put  to  death;  Jerusalem 
will  be  surrounded  with  an  army;  the  temple  will 
be  polluted;  false  prophets  will  appear;  there  will 
be  signs  in  the  heaven;  the  sun  and  the  moon  will 
be  darkened,  and  the  stars  will  fall  from  the  firma- 
ment. Then  the  Son  of  man  will  be  seen  coming 
in  the  clouds  with  great  power  and  majesty  ;  his 
angels  will  gather  the  elect  from  one  end  of  the 
world  to  the  other,  etc.  He  announces  all  this  as 
events  to  be  witnessed  by  his  apostles ;    and   he 


OF   A   GENERAL    JUDGMENT.  225 

adds:  'Verilj  I  say  unto  you,  this  generation 
shall  not  i^ass,  till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled.'       -.^ 

"  Is  it  a  question  of  the  end  of  the  world  in  all 
this?  Opinions  are  divided  on  this  point.  Some 
commentators  think  that,  in  these  texts,  Jesus 
Christ  simply  prophesied  the  ruin  of  the  religion, 
republic,  and  nation  of  the  Jews ;  and  that  all  the 
circumstances  were  verified  when  the  Romans 
took  and  destroyed  the  nation ;  that,  however,  a 
few  expressions  ought  not  to  be  taken  literally, 
such  as  the  fall  of  the  stars,  etc.;  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  used  the  same  style,  and  the  same  images 
used  by  prophets,  when  they  prophesied  other 
events.  Consequently  these  commentators  say 
that  these  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  '  This  genera- 
tion shall  not  pass,'  etc.,  signify,  the  Jews  who 
now  live  will  not  all  be  dead  when  these  events 
will  take  place.  In  fact,  Jerusalem  was  taken  and 
ruined  less  than  forty  years  after.  In  this  opinion 
it  is  not  a  question  in  these  texts  of  the  end  of 
the  world. 

"Other  commentators  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  joined  the  signs,  which  were  to  precede  the 
devastation  of  Judea,  to  those  which  will  appear 
at  the  end  of  the  world,  and  before  the  general 
judgment;  that  when  he  says:  'This  generation 
shall  not  pass,'  etc.,  he  means  that  the  Jewish 
nation  will  not  be  entirely  destroyed,  but  will 
subsist  till  the  end  of  the  world.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  word  generation  is  used  several 
times  in  this  sense  in  the  Gospel." 


226  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

From,  this  passage  of  Bergiei*  we  draw  the  fol- 
lowing argument  : 

Since  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians  were,  and 
are,  divided  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  above 
texts,  it  follows  that  the  Church  of  Rome  did  not 
rest  her  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  on  the 
above  text.  Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  did 
not  understand  the  above  texts,  namely,  the  24th 
chapter  of  Matthew,  and  the  last  sixteen  verses  of 
the  25th  :— the  24th,  25th,  26th,  and  27th  verses  of 
the  13th  chapter  in  Mark ;  and  also  the  25th,  26th, 
27th,  and  28th  verses  of  the  2l8t  chapter  in  Luke, 
as  meaning  a  general  judgment. 

2d.  We  prove  that  nearly  all  the  Christian 
sects,  or  denominations,  of  the  first  and  of  the 
second  centuries,  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  a 
general  judgment. 

The  Basilidiaus,  the  Valentinians,  the  Marciou- 
ites,  the  Marcosians,  the  Theodotians,  the  Carpo- 
cratians,  the  Docetes,  the  Tatianists,  the  Apellites, 
the  Montanists,  the  Artotyrites,  the  Ascites,  the 
Ascodrutes,  the  Ophites,  the  Cainites,  and  the 
Ilermogenians  believed  in  Metempsychosis,  and 
denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  From  the 
fact  that  these  sects  believed  in  Metempsj^chosis, 
and  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  we  argue: 

The  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  supposes 
the  resurrection  of  all  the  dead;  but  the  above 
sects  denied  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  There- 
fore they  denied  also  the  doctrine  of  a  general 
judgment.      Therefore    nearly  all  the   Christian 


OF   A   GENERAL   JUDGMENT.  227 

sects,  or  denominations,  of  the  first  and  of  the 
second  centuries,  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  a 
general  judgment. 

More,  we  might  say  all  the  Christian  sects  of  the 
first  two  centuries  ;  for,  it  was  only  at  the  end  of 
the  second  century,  that  the  sect  of  the  Millenaries, 
who  believed  in  a  general  judgment,  sprung  up ; 
and,  besides,  history  is  silent  about  the  belief  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  (which  then  was  confined 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Province  of  Rome,) 
in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment. 

3d.  The  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  is 
irrational,  because  a  first  judgment,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  having  taken  place,  a  second  one  would  be 
useless. 

4th.  "We  i^rove  that  the  Church  of  Rome  did 
not  hold  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from 
the  Jews. 

The  Roman  Catholic  authors  never  pretended, 
and  still  now  do  not  pretend,  that  the  Jews  be- 
lieved the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment. 

Then  the  Church  ■  of  Rome  did  not  hold  the 
doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from  the  Jews. 

We  draw  the  general  conclusions  of  this 
chapter : 

It  has  been  proved,  1st,  That  the  Pagans  held 
the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  of  all  the  then 
living,  and  of  all  the  dead,  which  shall  take  place 
at  the  end  of  the  world;  2d,  That  there  is  a 
striking  similarity  between  the  particularities  of 
the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment,  as   held  by 


228   PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  A  GENERAL  JUDGMENT. 

the  Pagans,  and  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judg- 
ment, as  held  by  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  od.  That 
the  Church  of  Rome  did  not  hold  the  doctrine  of 
a  general  judgment  from  the  apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ;  and,  4th,  That  the  Church  of  Rome  did 
not  hold  this  doctrine  from  the  Jews. 

Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  the 
doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  from  the  Pagans. 

Therefore  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  of 
all  the  then  living,  and  of  all  the  dead,  which  shcdl 
take  place  at  the  end  of  the  world,  is  of  Pagan  origin. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

PAGAN    ORIGm    OF    THE   DOCTRINE    OF   YICARIOU.S 
ATONEMENT. 

The  doctrine  of  Yicavlous  Atouemeut  supposes 
tlie  dogma  of  a  Personal  Devil,  the  dogma  of 
Original  Sin,  the  dogma  of  Trinity,  and  the 
dogma  of  the  Supreme  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
As  in  four  chapters  of  this  work  we  have  proved 
that  these  four  dos^mas  are  of  Pa^ran  oris^in,  we 
shall  examine,  in  this  chapter,  the  true  origin  of 
the  body  itself  of  the  doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atone- 
ment, which  consists  .in  the  belief  that  a  small 
number  of  privileged  Christians  obtain  the  for- 
giveness of  their  sins,  and  are  exempted  from  the 
punishment  of  those  sins  through  the  medium  of 
a  substitute.  Our  historical  researches  will  also 
lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  of  Pagan  origin. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  Church  of  Pome 
held,  and  still  now  holds,  the  doctrine  that  Jesus 
Christ  had  washed  away  with  his  blood  all  the 
past,  present  and  future  sins  of  the  men  who 
would  be  within  the  pale  of  his  only  true  Church, 
which  was  herself,  and  also  that  he  had  exempted 
them  from  the  punishment  of  their  sins.     How- 

(229) 


230  PAGAN     ORIGIN 

ever,  they  were  to  enjoy  these  two  privileges  only 
on  the  condition  that  they  would  obey  her  pre- 
scriptions. The  Partialist  Protestant  Churches 
rejected  nearly  all  the  prescriptions  of  the  Churcli 
of  Rome ;  rejected  the  doctrine  that  she  was  the 
only  true  Church  of  Jesus  Christ;  but  they  pre- 
served the  substance  of  the  doctrine,  namely,  that 
Jesus  Christ  had  washed  away  all  the  sins  of 
those  who  would  feel  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  their  souls;  who  would  experience  a 
supernatural  change  of  heart,  or,  as  they  com- 
monly term  it,  would  get  religion  ;  and  also  that 
through  his  atonement  they  are  exempted  from 
the  punishment  of  their  sins. 

Consequently,  the  Partialist  Protestant  Churches, 
as  well  as  the  Church  of  Pome,  hold  the  doctrine 
that  a  small  number  of  privileged  Christians  ob- 
tain the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  are  exempted 
from  the  punishment  of  those  sins  through  the 
medium  of  a  substitute.  Then  if  it  is  proved  that 
the  origin  of  the  doctrine  that  a  small  number  of 
privileged  Christians  obtain  the  forgiveness  of 
their  sins,  and  are  exempted  from  the  punishment 
of  those  sins,  through  the  medium  of  a  substitute — 
as  held  by  the  Church  of  Pome — is  Pagan,  it  will 
thereby  be  proved  that  the  doctrine  that  a  small 
number  of  privileged  Christians  obtain  the  for- 
giveness of  their  sins,  and  are  exempted  from  the 
punishment  of  those  sins,  through  the  medium  of 
a  substitute — as  held  by  the  Partialist  Protestant 
Churches — is  also  of  Pagan  oriij-in. 


OF   VICARIOUa   ATONEMENT.  231 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  prove  that  the  origin 
of  the  doctrine  that  a  small  number  of  privileged 
Christians  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and 
are  exempted  from  the  punishment  of  those  sins 
through  the  medium  of  a  substitute — as  held  by 
the  Church  of  Rome — is  Pagan. 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  origin  of  the  doctrine 
that  a  small  number  of  privileged  Christians  ob- 
tain the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  are  exempted 
from  the  punishment  of  their  sins,  through  the 
medium  of  a  substitute — ^as  held  by  the  Church 
of  Rome — is  Pagan,  if  it  is  proved,  1st,  That 
there  is  a  striking  similarity  between  the  practices 
required  by  the  Church  of  Rome  to  obtain  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  to  be  exempted  from  the 
punishment  of  those  sins,  and  those  which  were, 
and  still  now  are,  required  in  the  Pagan  religion 
for  the  same  purpose ;  and,  2d,  That  those  prac- 
tices were  not  instituted  among  Christians  in  the 
first  two  centuries.  But  it  can  be  proved,  1st, 
That  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between  the 
practices  required  by  the  Church  of  Rome  to 
obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  to  be  exempted 
from  the  punishment  of  those  sins,  through  the 
medium  of  a  substitute^  and  those  which  were,  and 
still  now  are,  required  in  the  Pagan  religion  for 
the  same  purpose;  and,  2d,  That  those  practices 
were  not  instituted  among  Christians  in  the  first 
two  centuries. 

1st.  We  prove  that  there  is  a  striking  simi- 
larity   between    the    practices    required    by     the 


2S2  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

Church  of  Rome  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  to  be  exempted  from  the  punishment  of  those 
sins,  through  the  medium  of  a  substitute,  and  those 
which  were,  and  still  now  are,  required  in  the 
Pagan  religion- for  the  same  purpose. 

The  Pagans,  publicly  and  privately,  used  lustral 
water,  which,  they  thought,  had  the  virtue  of 
purifying  the  soul,  and  of  remitting  the  punish- 
ment of  certain  impurities  and  sins.  The  Priests, 
in  solemn  religious  ceremonies,  aspersed  the  assist- 
ants with  it ;  and  the  people  kept  and  used  it  in 
their  families.  In  the  same  manner,  the  Church  of 
Rome  believes  that  holy  water  has  the  virtue  of 
purifying  the  soul,  and  of  remitting  the  punish- 
ment of  certain  impurities  and  sins.  The  Roman 
Catholics  use  it  publicly  and  privately.  Every 
Sunday,  before  the  celebration  of  the  high  mass, 
the  priests  asperse  the  people  with  holy  water  for 
the  aforesaid  end ;  and  also  pour  it  on  the  coffins 
of  the  dead  at  the  funerals.  The  laymen  keep  and 
use  it  in  their  families  for  the  same  end. 

These  lustrations  are  practiced,  even  in  our  days, 
by  many  of  the  Pagans.  The  Madegasses  believe 
that  they  can  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  the  punish- 
ment of  their  sins  in  dipping  a  piece  of  gold  in  a 
vessel  full  of  water,  and  in  drinking  that  water. 
The  Father  Jesuit  Bouchet,  a  missionary  in  India, 
writes :  "  The  Indians  say  that  in  bathing  in  certain 
rivers  sins  are  entirely  remitted;  and  that  their 
mysterious  waters  wash  not  only  the  bodies,  but 
also  purify  the  souls  in  an  admirable  manner." 


OF  VICARIOUS  ATONEMENT.  233 

This  testimony,  Chateaubriand  adds,  is  con- 
firmed by  the  Memoirs  of  the  English  Society  of 
Calcutta.  The  waters  of  the  Ganges  are  reputed 
as  having  the  greatest  expiatory  virtue:  so  the 
Church  of  Kome  holds  that  the  baptismal  waters 
remit  the  original  and  all  other  sins,  and  exempt 
those  baptized  from  punishment. 

The  Pagans  believed  that  certain  ceremonies, 
and  their  medals  representing  the  gods,  had  an 
expiatory  virtue :  so  the  Church  of  Rome  holds 
that  genuflexions,  the  Agnus  Dei,  the  beads,  the 
medals  of  the  saints,  and  of  the  vii'gin  Mary, 
have  an  expiatory  virtue.  The  Pagans  believed 
that  certain  prayers  remitted  certain  sins  and  their 
punishment;  so  the  Church  of  Rome  believes 
that  Kovenas,  indulgences,  the  recitation  of  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  John,  etc.,  remit 
venial  sins,  and  their  punishment.  The  Pagans 
went  in  pilgrimage  to  chapels,  where  the  prayers 
of  the  priests,  they  thought,  had  an  expiatory  vir- 
tue greater  than  in  other  temples ;  this  practice  and 
this  belief  have  been  preserved  even  by  the  Mahom- 
edans.  ISTow  there  are  at  the  door  of  the  Mosque 
of  All,  at  Mesched-Aly,  dervishes,  who,  for  money, 
expiate  with  their  prayers  the  sins  of  the  pilgrims : 
so  the  Church  of  Rome  believes  that  the  expiatory 
virtue  of  the  prayers  made  by  priests,  in  certain 
chapels  of  saints  and  of  Mary,  where  multitudes 
of  pilgrims  resort,  is  greater  than  that  of  the  pray- 
ers made  in  other  temples. 

In  China,  the  invocation  of  Omyto  is  sufficient 
20 


^84  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

to  remit  the  punishment  of  the  greatest  crimes. 
It  is  on  account  of  it  that  the  followers  of  the  sect 
of  Fo  repeat  oftentimes,  every  day,  the  words,  0- 
niyto-Fo!  The  Indians  believed,  and  still  believe, 
that  when  a  man  expires  in  pronouncing  the  name 
of  God,  and  in  holding,  at  the  same  time,  the  tail 
of  a  cow,  he  immediately  ascends  to  Paradise. 
The  Bramas  never  failed,  and  even  do  not  now,  to 
read  every  morning  the  mysterious  legend  of  Gos- 
gendre-Mootsjam;  because  it  is  a  dogma  of  the 
Indian  religion  that  any  one  who  reads  this  legend 
every  morning,  obtains  the  forgiveness  of  the 
punishment  of  all  his  sins  ;  so  the  Church  of  Rome 
holds  that  any  one  who  recites  the  Augelus  when 
the  bell  rings,  in  the  morning,  at  noon,  and  at  sun 
down,  or  recites  the  acts  of  faith,  of  hope,  and  of 
charity,  obtains  the  remittance  of  the  punishment 
of  several  of  his  venial  sins;  and,  also,  that  any 
one  who  regularly  recites  the  prayers  of  Saint 
Brigitte,  or  who,  when  he  dies,  recites  with  great 
devotion  the  prayer  Memorare  o  piissima,  etc., 
will  go  to  Paradise. 

Greece  was  flooded  with  rituals,  ascribed  to 
Orpheus  and  to  Museus,  prescribing  ceremonies, 
rites,  and  practices,  which  had  the  virtue  of  puri- 
fying the  soul,  and  of  exempting  the  sinners  from 
the  punishment  of  their  sins.  The  priests  of  the 
Pagans  persuaded  entire  towns,  cities,  and  nations, 
that  they  could  be  purified  of  their  crimes,  and  be 
exempted  from  the  punishment,  which  the  Deity 
would  inflict  upon  them,  through  the  means  of 


OF    VICARIOUS    ATOXEMEXT.  235 

expiatory  rites,  of  feasts,  and  of  initiations.  They 
made  the  people  believe  that  this  purification,  and 
this  exemption,  could  extend  to  the  living  and  to 
the  dead,  in  what  they  called  Teletes,  or  myste- 
ries; and  it  was  as  a  consequence  of  this  belief 
that  the  priests  of  Cybel,  those  of  Isis,  the  Orphe- 
otelestes  and  others,  went  among  the  people  to 
initiate  them ;  but  on  the  condition  that  they 
would  pay  to  them  large  sums  of  money.  This 
traffic  was  practiced  even  by  priestesses,  and  bad 
women.  Demosthenes  informs  us  that  the  mother 
of  Eschine  made  a  living  by  it,  and  also  in  prosti- 
tuting her  body. 

Likewise,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  flooded  with 
rituals  prescribing  ceremonies,  rites,  and  practices, 
which  have  the  virtue  of  purifying  the  soul,  and 
of  exempting  the  sinners  from  the  punishment  of 
their  sins.  The  priests  make  towns,  cities,  and 
nations  believe  that  they  can  be  purified  of  their 
crimes,  and  be  exempted  of  the  punishment  they 
deserve,  by  fasting,  by  going  processionally  to 
churches,  or  to  chapels  of  saints  and  of  the  virgin 
Mary.  The  priests,  the  monks,  the  begging-friars, 
and  even  the  nuns,  go  among  the  people ;  they 
pledge  themselves  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  their 
sins,  and  the  exemption  from  divine  punishment, 
if  the}"  give  them  sums  of  money. 

The  priests  of  the  Pagans  offered  expiatory 
sacrifices  for  the  living  and  for  the  dead  for 
money ;  so,  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  priests 
offer  the  sacrifice  of  Mass  for  the  expiation  of  the 


236  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

sins  of  tlie  living  and  of  the  dead,  if  they  are 
well  paid.  The  Pagans  believed  that  the  founda- 
tion of  temples,  their  endowment,  and  other  gifts 
presented  to  the  gods  and  to  their  priests,  had  an. 
expiatory  virtue.  Socrates  portrayed  the  unjust 
man  in  saying,  that  initiation  to  mysteries  caused 
them  to  despise  the  Tartarus  with  all  its  torments. 
He  made  the  following  remark:  "The  apologist 
of  injustice  says,  they  frighten  us  with  the  threat 
of  the  pains  of  the  Tartarus;  but  who  ignores 
that  we  find  in  the  initiations  a  remedy  to  that 
fear?  They  are  a  great  resource  to  us ;  and  they 
inform  us  that  there  are  gods  who  exempt  us  from 
the  punishment  deserved  by  crime.  True,  we  have 
committed  injustice,  but  injustice  has  been  pecu- 
niarily profitable  to  us.  We  are  told  that  the  gods 
are  appeased  by  prayers,  sacrifices,  and  ofierings." 
Biache,  one  of  the  interlocutors  in  the  Ezourve- 
dam,  said,  that  there  is  in  the  country  called 
Magouodechan,  a  sacred  spot,  where,  through 
some  offerings,  ancestors  can  be  freed  from  the 
tortures  of  hell. 

Likewise,  the  Church  of  Rome  holds  that  the 
foundation  of  churches,  of  priest's  houses,  of  mon- 
asteries, of  convents,  and  of  nunneries,  and  their 
endowment;  or  any  other  gift,  presented  to  the 
saints,  bishops,  priests,  monks,  and  nuns  have  a 
virtue  so  much  the  more  expiatory  for  sins,  as 
they  are  greater  and  more  valuable.  It  is  owing 
to  this  horrible  doctrine,  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  acquired  so  much  church  property  that 


OF   VICARIOUS   ATONEMENT.  237 

its  evalution  is  beyoud  any  approximate  calcula- 
tion. The  French  poet,  Boileau,  spoke  the  truth 
when,  in  his  ninth  satire,  he  said: 

"  Si  Ton  vient  k  chercher  pour  quel  secret  myst^re, 
Alidor,  k  ses  frais,  batit  un  monastere  .  .  . 
O'est  un  homme  d'honneur,  de  piete  profonde, 
Et   qui   veut  reudre   k  Dieu   ce   qu'il  a  pris  au 
monde." 

Translation:  "If  we  wish  to  inquire  for  what 
secret  mystery  Alidor,  at  his  own  expense,  built  a 
monastery.  .  .  .  He  is  a  man  of  honor,  of  pro- 
found piety,  and  who  wishes  to  i^estore  to  God 
what  he  stole  from  the  world." 

The  Pagans  believed  that  in  piously  gazing 
upon  certain  statues  of  the  gods  their  souls  were 
purified;  and  that  the  punishment  of  their  sins 
was  remitted ;  so,  even  now,  the  Indians  believe 
that  in  simply  gazing  upon  the  shrub  Toulouschi 
they  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  obtain 
the  exemption  from  their  punishment.  Likewise 
the  Church  of  Rome  holds,  that,  in  gazing  piously 
upon  the  cross,  the  Catholics  obtain  the  forgive- 
ness of  their  venial  sins,  and  the  exemption  from 
their  punishment.  The  ancient  initiations  of  the 
Pagans  had  tribunals  of  penance,  where  a  priest,, 
under  the  name  of  Koes,  heard  from  the  mouth 
of  the  sinners  themselves  the  avowal  of  their 
sins,  of  which  their  souls  were  to  be  purified,  and 
from  the  punishment  of  which  thoy  wished  to  be 
exempted.     One  day  the  famous    Lysandre,  con^ 


SSS  PAGAN   ORKilN 

fessing  his  sins  to  one  of  those  Koes,  was  asked 
by  him  impudent  questions.  Lysandre  answered 
him  with  this  question,  "  Do  you  address  me  those 
questions  in  your  own  name,  or  in  the  name  of  the 
Deity?"  The  Koes  answered :  "  In  the  name  of 
the  Deity."  "Well,"  Lysandre  rejoined,  "  let  me 
be;  if  God  questions  me,  I  will  answer  him." 
Likewise  the  Church  of  Rome  has  tribunals  of 
penance,  where  priests  hear  from  the  mouth  of 
the  sinnei'S  themselves  the  avowal  of  their  sins,  of 
which  their  souls  are  to  be  purified,  and  from  the 
punishment  of  which  they  wish  to  be  exempted. 
Through  the  absolution  of  the  priests  the  greatest 
sins,  without  any  exemption,  are  remitted  entirely, 
so  that  they  not  only  are  forgiven,  but  even  their 
punishment. 

Even  the  Church  of  Rome  goes  farther  in  regard 
to  the  pretended  virtue  of  her  expiatory  practi- 
ces, than  the  Pagans  ever  went.  Indeed,  it  was  a 
common  thing  among  the  Pagans  to  stigmatize 
certain  crimes,  and  to  call  them  irremissible — 
unexpiable.  They  excluded  from  the  sanctua- 
ries of  Eleusis,  the  murderers,  the  traitors  to 
their  country,  in  a  word,  all  those  who  were  guilty 
of  atrocious  crimes;  they  were  to  be  excluded 
from  the  Elysium  forever,  and  to  be  endlessly  tor- 
tured in  the  Tartarus.  There  were  purifications 
for  murder,  it  is  true,  but  only  for  involuntary  or 
necessary  murder.  When  the  ancient  heroes  had 
committed  a  murder,  they  resorted  to  expiation; 
after  the   sacrifices  which  were  required,  iustral 


OF  VICARIOUS   ATONEMENT.  239 

water  was  poured  on  the  murderous  han-d ;  from 
tliat  moment  they  were  readmitted  in  society; 
and  they  prepared  themselves  to  new  deeds  of 
bravery.  Hercules  resorted  to  expiation  when  he 
had  slain  the  Centaurs.  But  those  sorts  of  expia- 
tions did  not  purify  the  soul  from  all  impurities 
and  crimes. 

The  great  criminals  had  to  dread  all  their  life- 
time the  horrors  of  the  Tartarus,  or  could  not 
expiate  their  crimes,  except  by  constantly  practi- 
cing virtue,  and  constantly  doing  good  to  their 
fellow  men.  The  legal  purifications  were  not  con- 
sidered as  having  the  virtue  of  securing  to  all 
criminals  the  hope  of  bliss,  to  which  the  righteous 
were  entitled.  Kero  did  not  dare  present  himself 
to  the  temple  of  Eleusis;  because  he  was  debarred 
from  entering  its  sanctuary  on  account  of  his 
atrocious  crimes. 

The  famous  Constantino  I.,  to  whom  the  Church 
of  Home  is  indebted  for  all  her  past  and  present 
aggrandizement,  wealth,  and  power;  and  whose 
name  has  been,  is,  and  shall  always  be,  accursed 
by  nations,  because  of  the  rivers  of  blood,  of  the 
deluge  of  ignorance,  of  superstition,  in  one  word, 
of  the  ocean  of  crimes  against  God,  against  Christ, 
and  against  mankind,  which  the  Church  of  Rome, 
enabled  by  his  protection,  poured  over  the  world : 
Constantine,  we  say,  guilty  of  all  sorts  of  crimes; 
his  hands  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  own 
mother,  whom  he  had  slain ;  and  with  the  blood 
of  the  many,  whom  he  had  murdered ;  and  guilty 


2-10  PAGAN  ORIGIN 

of  many  perjuries,  presented  himself  to  the  Pagan 
priests  to  obtain  the  absolution  of  those  atrocious 
crimes,  and  the  exemption  from  their  punishment. 

Constantine  was  answered,  that,  among  the 
various  sorts  of  expiations,  there  was  not  one 
which  had  the  virtue  of  purifying  his  soul  from 
so  many  and  so  atrocious  crimes,  and  of  exempt- 
ing him  from  the  punishment  they  deserved ;  and 
that  no  religion  had  resources  enough  to  appease 
the  justice  of  the  irritated  gods;  and,  let  us  mark: 
Constantine  was  a  mighty  emperor.  One  of  his 
courtiers,  seeing  the  trouble  and  agitation  of  his 
soul,  devoured  by  the  restless  and  undying  remorse, 
told  him  that  his  sufferings  were  not  hopeless;  that 
there  were  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  purifications 
which  had  the  virtue  of  expiating  all  crimes,  with- 
out any  exception,  that  this  Church  held,  that 
whoever  joined  it,  whatever  may  be  his  crimes, 
might  hope  that  all  his  crimes  will  be  forgiven  by 
the  Deity,  and  that  the  exemption  from  their  pun- 
ishment will  be  obtained. 

From  that  time  Constantine  took  the  Church 
of  Rome  under  his  protection.  He  was  a  wicked 
man  who  tried  to  deceive  himself,  and  to  appease 
the  remorse  of  his  conscience.  He  gave  then  full 
§cope  to  his  flagitiousness;  and  he  postponed  being 
baptized  until  the  hour  of  his  death,  because  it 
was,  as  it  is  now,  a  dogma  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  that  baptism  purifies  the  soul  from  the 
original  and  all  other  sins  and  crimes,  and  that  it 
has  also  the  virtue  of  exempting  those  baptized 


OF    VICARIOUS    ATONEMENT.  241 

from  the  punishment  of  all  their  sins.  Thus  the 
entry  of  the  temple  of  Eleusis  was  interdicted  to 
ifero ;  and  yet  the  Church  of  Rome  would  have 
admitted  him  within  her  pale ;  would  have  puri- 
fied his  soul ;  and  would  have  exempted  him  from 
the  punishment  of  all  his  monstrous  crimes,  if  he 
had  taken  her  under  his  protection.  How  abom- 
inable a  Church  must  be,  when  she  deals  so  with 
tyrants  and  monsters  with  a  human  face !  What ! 
if  ]!^ero  had  been  a  Roman  Catholic  and  had  pro- 
tected the  Church  of  Rome,  she  would  have 
canonized  him !  "Why  not?  Constantine,  as  great 
a  criminal  as  he  was,  has  been  canonized.  In  the 
ninth  century  his  name  was  invoked  at  Rome  in 
the  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  and  even  now  he 
is  considered  as  a  saint. 

In  England  several  churches  have  been  built 
under  the  invocation  of  this  pretended  Saint  Con- 
stantine, who  founded  at  Constantinople  a  vast 
and  costly  establishment  of  ill  fame.  Such  are 
the  saints  worshipped  by  the  Church  of  Rome 
when  she  obtains  their  protection.  Christ,  reason, 
and  nature,  would  never  have  absolved  Kero  from 
his  crimes,  and  from  the  punishment  they  deserved ; 
and  yet  the  Church  of  Rome  would  have  done  it. 
Sophocles,  in  his  -^dipe,  says,  that  all  the  waters 
of  the  Danube,  and  of  the  Phase,  would  have 
been  insufiicient  to  purify,  from  their  crimes,  the 
souls  of  the  family  of  Laius ;  and  yet  the  Church 
of  Rome  would  have  done  it.  How  truly  the 
Arab  poet  Abu-Naovas  exclaimed:  "Lord,  we 
21 


242  PAGAN   ORIGIN 

have  indulged  to  sin  and  to  crime,  because  we  saw 
tliat  forgiveness  soon  followed  them." 

Therefore  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between 
the  practices  required  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  to 
obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  to  be  exempted 
from  the  punishment  of  those  sins,  through  the 
medium  of  a  substitute,  and  those  which  were 
required  in  the  Pagan  religion  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. ' 

2.  We  prove  that  the  practices  required  by  the 
Church  of  Rome  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  to  be  exempted  from  the  punishment  of  those 
Bins,  through  the  medium  of  a  substitute,  were  not 
instituted  among  Christians  i-n  the  first  two  cen- 
turies. 

The  Roman  Catholic  theologians  do  not  pretend 
that  the  Christians  of  the  first  two  centuries  held 
those  practices,  nor  that  the  Church  of  Rome  her- 
self held  them;  but  they  say  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  established  them  successively,  as  the  good 
of  Christians  required  it,  according  to  the  power 
of  government  and  infallibility  granted  to  her, 
and  to  her  alone,  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Consequently,  the  practices  required  by  the 
Church  of  Rome,  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  to  be  exempted  from  the  punishment  of  those 
sins,  were  not  instituted  among  Christians  in  the 
first  two  centuries. 

"We  draw  the  general  conclusions  of  this  chap- 
ter: 

It  has  been  proved  that  there  is  a  striking  simi- 


OF   VICARIOUS   ATONExMENT.  243 

larity  between  the  practices  required  by  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  to 
be  exempted  from  the  punishment  of  those  sins, 
and  those  which  were,  and  still  now  are,  required 
in  the  Pagan  religion  for  the  same  purpose;  aud 
that  those  practices  were  not  instituted  among 
Christians  in  the  first  two  centuries. 

Therefore  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  from 
the  Pagans  the  doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atonement, 
namely,  that  a  small  number  of  privileged  Chris- 
tians obtain  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  are 
exempted  from  the  punishment  of  their  sins, 
through  the  medium  of  a  substitute. 

Since,  though  the  other  Partialist  Christian 
Churches  rejected  the  most  of  the  practices  used 
by  the  Church  of  Rome  to  obtain  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  the  exemption  from  the  punishment 
of  those  sins,  they  preserved  the  substance  of  the 
doctrine,  namely,  that  Jesus  Christ  had  washed 
away,  or,  in  other  words,  atoned  for  all  the  sins  of 
those  who  would  feel  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  their  souls ;  who  would  experience  a  su- 
pernatural change  of  heart,  or,  as  they  commonly 
term  it,  would  get  religion ;  and  also  that  through 
his  atonement  they  were  exempted  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  their  sins — the  doctrine  which  they  hold 
is  nothing  but  the  very  doctrine,  though  modified 
in  its  circumstances,  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
Therefore  its  origin  is  the  same.  But  it  has  been 
proved  that  the  Church  of  Rome  borrowed  from 
the  Pagans,  the  doctrine  that  a  small  number  of 


244  PAGAN      ORIGIN 

privileged  Christians  obtain  the  forgiveness  of 
their  sins,  and  are  exempted  from  the  punishment 
of  those  sins,  through  the  medium  of  a  substitute 
— as  she  holds  it.  Therefore  it  is  thereby  proved, 
that  the  other  Partialist  Christian  Churches  truly- 
borrowed,  from  the  Pagans,  though  through  the 
medium  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  doctrine  that 
a  small  number  of  privileged  Christians  obtain  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  are  exempted  from 
the  punishment  of  those  sins,  through  the  medium 
of  a  substitute — as  she  holds  it. 

Therefore  the  doctrine  that  a  small  number  of 
privileged  Christians  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  their 
sins,  and  are  exempted  from  the  punishment  of 
those  sins,  through  the  medium  of  a  substitute,  is 
of  Pagan  origin.  And  as,  on  another  hand,  it  has 
been  proved,  in  four  other  chapters  of  this  work, 
that  the  doctrine  of  a  Personal  Devil,  the  doctrine 
of  Original  Sin,  the  doctrine  of  Trinity,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Supreme  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
are  of  Pagan  origin — then  we  logically  draw  the 
conclusion  that  all  the  characteristics  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Vicarious  Atonement  are  of  Pagan  origin. 
Since  all  the  characteristics  of  the  doctrine  of  Vi- 
carious Atonement  are  of  Pagan  origin,  then  the 
body  itself  of  the  doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atonement 
is  of  Pagan  origin. 

Therefore  the  doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atonement  is 
of  Pagan  origin. 


OF    VICARIOUS    ATONEMENT.  245 


conclusion  of  all  the  chapters. 
Theej:fore   Partialist  Doctrines  are  of   Pagan 

ORIGIN. 

Corollary. — Since  the  Partialist  doctriues  are  of 
Pagan  origin  they  are  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
for  the  Scriptures  do  not  reveal  Paganism.  Con- 
sequently they  ought  to  be  rejected  from  Christian 
Churches,  as  being  Heathen  doctrines. 


246  VALEDICTORY. 


Valedictory. 

Dear  Header, — Before  I  drop  the  pen  permit  me 
to  address  to  you  a  few  valedictory  words.  If  you 
believe  the  Impartialist,  namely,  Universalist  doc- 
trines, you  are  now  in  possession  of  an  irrefutable 
historical  proof  corroborating  your  beloved  faith, 
which  is  satisfactory  to  your  mind,  and  sweet  to 
your  heart.  If  from  your  infancy  up  to  this  day 
you  have  been  taught,  and  have  believed,  the  Par- 
tialist  doctrines,  perhaps  you  say  to  yourself:  My 
religious  creed  is  now  shaken  to  its  very  founda- 
tion ;  what  then  will  my  religious  belief  be,  for  the 
want  of  religious  principles  is  the  most  earnest 
longing  of  my  soul?  Friend,  study  the  Impartial- 
ist,  namely,  Universalist  doctrines ;  compare  thcui 
with  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  and  you  will 
find  them  recorded  therein.  They  truly  are  the 
embodiment  of  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  are  themselves  embodied  in  these  two  vital 
maxims  of  Jesus  Christ,  written  in  golden  letters 
on  the  Universalist  banner :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. — This  is  the  first  and 
great  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto 
it,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. — On 
these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets." 


